Friday, September 29, 2006 PWDs hope Recto bill will improve welfare
ORGANIZATIONS for persons with disabilities (PWDs) hope that a pending bill by Senator Ralph Recto will improve their welfare.
Recto’s bill mandates the creation of a Persons with Disabilities Affairs Office in each province, city or municipality.
Mateo Lee, Jr., who is blind, said programs for PWDs are only accorded second priority by government agencies.
Lee said this was because the agencies “were not happy with the allotted budget.” Lee is the deputy executive director of the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP).
Secondary
Lee said the agencies focus on other projects and “treated things concerning us as secondary programs.” Lee spoke at the Kapihan sa PIA (Philippine Information Agency).
The NCWDP is attached to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with the social welfare secretary serving as chairman of the governing board. It has 13 national government agency members and five government agency consultants.
During the forum, member agencies of the NCWDP reported programs they are undertaking for people with disabilities.
Maria Flordeliza Duremdes, head of the technical department of the Department of Labor and Employment, said that since they launched the Tulong Alay sa may Kapansanan Program in Region 7 in 2000, they were able to find jobs for 89 disabled people. She said they were able to solicity 107 job vacancies.
She said they were assigned to banks and massage parlors. Duremdes said they were able to get 1,306 job placements for disabled persons nationwide but were only able to fill 331.
Duremdes said that apart from the job placements, they also gave P100,000 as financial assistance for a PWD organization in Toledo City and P75,000 for a group in Catigbian, Bohol.
The Department of Public Works and Highways also said they are strictly monitoring the requirements for a ramp in the entrance and exit of each floor in a building and the putting up of a grab-bar in toilets. (AIV)
