GOING inside the Capitol building and entering town halls in Cebu are not easy for persons with disability (PWD), said Christoper Sardido, 35, who moves around on a wheelchair.
It takes three persons to carry him and his wheelchair to the Capitol’s second floor just to attend sessions and air his complaints to officials.
“Lisod bitaw, og naa koy tuyo diri di ko ka largo og saka, maghuwat pa ko og tawo, ug ang tawo mangita pa og kauban (It’s hard, and if I have a transaction here, I can’t go up right away, I have to wait for help, and if there is one, the person also has to seek help),” said Sardido.
He rents a room in Barangay Ermita and he goes to Capitol aboard a PUJ. He enters at the back of the building and asks for the security guard to lift him and his
wheelchair one step up the ground floor.
In going to the second floor, he asksfor the help of outsourced janitors to carry him to the second floor, where most offices and the session hall are.
“We are addressing it now, the (Capitol) structure is old, especially the executive building,” said PB Member Arleigh Sitoy on the current installation of an elevator in the three-story Capitol building.
Elevator
The elevator, which was supposed to be in operation last year, is still under construction. Sitoy, who is a PWD himself, assured that the elevator will be operational next month.
Sitoy said he is pushing for PWD offices in every town, and so far, 70 percent of the LGUs have responded.
“Mao nang na-enganyo ko motabang kay I belong to the sector (I’m motivated to help because I belong to the sector),” said Sitoy.
Sardido, who is the president of a group called Devoted—Hacinian Anchor Christ International (D-HACI), said even his hometown’s municipal hall is not accessible to
PWDs.
He is from Barangay Butong, Argao town, the place where Gov. Hilario Davide III is from.
He said most city and town halls he’d been to are not accessible to PWDs.
“Naa may balaod di man ipatuman, bisan asang lungsora (There is a law, but it is not being implemented in any towns),” Sardido said.
He is referring to Section 25 or the requirement of a barrier-free environment, which enables PWDs to have access in buildings, as provided in Republic Act 7277. That law provides for rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance of disabled persons and their integration in society.
So far, only the Cebu City hall has a ramp for PWD access from the road to the first
floor and elevator to the upper floors of the building.
One time, Sun.Star Cebu chanced upon him wanting to see the governor, but he failed as he had a hard time going up the building and wasn’t able to catch the official who had left for an appointment. Sardido had to wait until late afternoon.
“Mura man og wa na mi katungod sa gobyerno (It seems that we have no right in government),” he said.
Design
Capitol’s P2.4-million-worth elevator, which enables PWD’s access to its upper floors, was initially scheduled to operate last December 2013, said Engr. Josefino Lim of the Engineering Office. But changes in design and site excavations resulted to delays. The target now is to finish it by June or early July.
Bidding for an elevator unit started during the term of former governor Gwen Garcia.
Finally, the Province got a Schindler brand elevator, which costs P1.385 million and was delivered on July 9, 2013, according to the acknowledgment receipt, said Engr. Noel Gurrea.
Lim said that private contractor Jenzab Construction and Design built the P1.077-million elevator shaft that will hold the elevator. They started on Nov. 4, 2013. But in their first excavation, workers hit a septic tank, prompting them to move to another site.
The elevator shaft wall, earlier made of hollow blocks, was changed into a sturdier solid concrete.
July is the PWD month, and Sitoy and the Province are hopeful that by this time, the Capitol building will at least be friendly to PWDs.