Senator Loren Legarda has filed a bill seeking to provide senior citizens with P1,000 in monthly support for the purchase of maintenance medicines.

Senate Bill No. 164, or the proposed “Act Providing Monthly Maintenance Medication Support for Senior Citizens,” aims to ease the financial burden of elderly Filipinos managing chronic illnesses.

"We are alleviating the burden of our senior citizens by helping them manage these debilitating diseases as they get older," Legarda said.

"This is to fulfill the government's mandate to ensure that senior citizens have access to affordable healthcare, including the medications necessary for maintaining their health and well-being," she added.

The veteran lawmaker, who authored the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, noted that existing discounts on medicines are often not enough for older Filipinos.

Under the measure, beneficiaries will be issued a monthly maintenance medication support card, which is non-transferable and cannot be converted to cash. Eligible senior citizens must present a valid prescription issued within the last six months.

Fraud and abuse of the program will be penalized under existing laws.

"This is to pay homage to those who have toiled and paved the road for all of us; this is a small token of recognition," Legarda said. "We are here to affirm the State's promise to take care of our senior citizens, helping make sure no one is left behind."