Ripples Amid the Storm
Like a small ripple in the middle of stormy ocean waves, this article is published today at the height of the Trillion Peso March—a time when the nation is consumed by outrage over massive corruption, with trillions of pesos lost to greed and bad governance.
The headlines are filled with mountains to climb: colossal scandals, sweeping reforms, and grand calls for accountability. Everyone seems to be chasing something big.
And yet, life is not only about the big things. Sometimes, it is the little things that reveal the deepest truths—and hurt the most. Big things are never born whole; they are stitched together by countless small acts, each one carrying weight, each one pointing the way.
That pebble is what tests patience, dignity, and resolve. For seniors like me, the pebble is not corruption in the billions, but the quiet humiliation at the pharmacy counter when a simple request for Vitamin C becomes a test of endurance.
The Pharmacy Counter: Where Pebbles Press Hardest
Yesterday, I felt that pebble once again. Before stepping out the door, I asked Bing, my AI-powered Co-pilot, a simple question:
“I am a senior in the Philippines. I will buy Vitamin C. Do I need a doctor’s prescription to avail myself of the 20% senior’s discount?”
The answer was clear: No. The FDA had already clarified that the discount applies to both prescription and non-prescription medicines, including vitamins and mineral supplements. Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs like Vitamin C do not require a prescription.
Armed with this assurance, I even took a photo of my laptop screen with my phone camera. Confident, I drove to Watsons.
And there, at the counter, the pebble pressed harder. The lady asked for a prescription. I explained the law, showed her the provision. She didn’t look. Instead, she called the manager. Soon, I was surrounded by staff, watched by other customers, with a security guard standing behind me.
The manager showed me a laminated notice: Drugstore May Limit Dispensing of OTCs from a Supply of One (1) Day to Maximum of Seven (7) Days.
The Same Pebble, Again and Again
This was not my first time. Months earlier, I had the same experience at South Star and Mercury Drug. Each time, the pebble was the same: managers closing the encounter with the refrain that they were “just employees following their employers.”
Yesterday, I thought something might have changed. I hoped for a different outcome. I was wrong. As Led Zeppelin’s song goes: The Song Remains the Same. And so does the pebble.
Between Promise and Pebble
Here lies the insult. Seniors are old and often tired. This benefit, meant to ease our burdens, in effect compels us to go out again and again—every day or every week—just to buy vitamins like Vitamin C. The rule assumes we might hoard or misuse the discount, as if our intent were selfish. But what it really does is degrade us.
Pebbles as Tests of Integrity
With just over 9 million seniors in a nation of nearly 120 million Filipinos, this issue of the senior citizen discount may appear to some a mere drop in the bucket. A minor inconvenience, a small pebble. But small pebbles are never trivial when they touch human dignity.
The Bible reminds us in Luke 16:10:
“Whoever can be trusted in small matters can be trusted in great ones, but whoever is dishonest in small matters will also be dishonest in great ones.”
This is more than scripture—it is a test of leadership, a measure of integrity. If those in power cannot be faithful in the little things—like ensuring seniors can buy their vitamins without humiliation—how can they be trusted with great things, like safeguarding trillions of pesos or steering the nation’s future?
The senior discount is only a small pebble compared to the ocean of corruption scandals.
For seniors, every denied benefit, every needless trip to the pharmacy, every laminated notice is not just policy—it is a lived reminder of whether society values their remaining years.
So let this small matter be a mirror. If we cannot honor our elders in the little things, then our promises in the big things ring hollow. Reform must begin not only in the grand halls of power but also at the humble pharmacy counter, where compassion meets regulation, and where dignity should never be discounted.
The song may remain the same today. But if we learn to remove the pebbles from our shoes, perhaps tomorrow, the nation will finally change the tune.
Content & editing put together in collaboration with Bing Microsoft AI-powered Co-pilot
Head photo courtesy of Bing creator image, What Goes On Wildwood NJ, UPROXX, Facebook, Variety; design by Canva
Still photos courtesy of Bing and ChatGPT image creator, Getty images, & Shutterstock
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