Persons with disabilities urged to
monitor PWD law’s non-compliance
By Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, Nov. 17 (PIA) --- The director of a foundation working to address the needs of children with disabilities in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental has urged persons with disabilities (PWDs) to monitor the non-compliance of the national law protecting the rights of PWDs.
Analou Suan, executive director of the Great Physician Rehabilitation Foundation, Inc. or GP Rehab, called on the PWDs in the province to bring to the attention of the authorities any violations of the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons or Republic Act 9442.
“It is your responsibility to report to the government those establishments or local governments that are not complying with the law,” Suan said during a recent forum held to tackle issues affecting the implementation of RA 9442.
Suan’s statements came in the heels of complaints raised by some PWDs during the same forum that some establishments in the city, particularly drugstores, are not complying with the 20% discounted price of medicines for PWDs as mandated by the Magna Carta.
Rose Pharmacy Manager Christine Sescon and Botica Real Pharmacist Ma. Juvy Lim, both of whom were present during the forum, admitted that their drugstores are not handing out said discount because they have yet to receive its implementing guidelines.
“With the senior citizen’s 20% discount, we received a copy of the guidelines so we were able to implement it. But for the PWDs, we have not received any so we could not implement it yet,” explained Sescon.
Artemia Degamo, PWD focal person of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Region 7 who was also one of the resource speakers during said forum, promised to raise the concern expressed by the PWDs and the pharmacy representatives to the National Council for Disability Affairs.
Suan also challenged the PWDs to “get their acts together” and tap resources from local sectors such as the academe to ensure that the PWD law is fully implemented.
The Magna Carta for PWDs, which was signed into law in 1992, provides for a 20% discount for PWDs in fees involving hotel accommodations, lodging houses, restaurants and recreation centers, purchase of medicines, dental and medical services including diagnostic and laboratory fees in government and private hospitals and facilities, and transportation fares.
Suan also urged PWDs here to participate in gatherings like the weekly city council sessions in Dumaguete City where the city government has hired two sign language interpreters for the benefit of the hearing impaired persons.
“If the government does not hear you or see you, they will think there are only a few of you. So you should be visible,” she stressed.
Aside from hiring two sign language interpreters, Suan lauded the local government for its efforts in complying with the Magna Carta such as the inclusion of the PWD’s discounted transportation fares in the signs posted on the tricycles, accessibility features like ramps in buildings, the city government-supported Blind Massage Clinic and the proposed city ordinance establishing a PWD Affairs Office authored by Dumaguete City Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova.
But she said much still needs to be done in fully implementing the law for the PWDs.
“We want to see the whole community, not just the government, recognizing the rights of PWDs and the PWDs themselves play a big role in making this happen,” she added. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)