In the Philippines, Court of Appeals rules no ID cards, but prescription discount for people with disabilities

From the Manila Standard Today :

The Court of Appeals has upheld the magna carta for people with disability, including its provision that grants disabled people 20 percent discount on purchases of medicines from any drugstore in the country.

But in the same ruling, the court’s 11th division stopped the national council on disability affairs from enforcing an order for the issuance of ID cards good for three years to PWDs.

The council has yet to comply with the requirements such as the publication of the order in a newspaper of general circulation, the court said.

The appellate court issued the decision through Associate Justice Noel Tijam acting on the petition filed by the Drugstores Association of the Philippines and four drug retailing companies.

According to the petitioners, the 20 percent discount is unconstitutional as the law fails to provide just compensation upon taking of property for public use.

While the law allows for a tax deductiion scheme, they said, it does not allow them to collect full reimbursement of the 20 percent discount granted to disabled people, thus, they are deprived of their earnings.

The law, they said, is arbitrary as it does not require a disabled person to present a certification from a licensed private or government physician.

But the court held that the grant of discount to PWDs is a legitimate exercise of police power.

The court dismissed the argument of the petitioners that the 20 percent discount should be limited to medicines which are connected with the particular disability of the PWDs saying that the law is intended “to give full support to the improvement of the total-well being of the disabled persons” like the Senior Citizens Act.

Apart from from the purchase of medicines, the law also grants PWDs 20 percent discounts from all establishments such as hotels and similar lodging establishments, restaurants and recreation centers.