PURR
The NDPR Week Celebration
The National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week is being celebrated this week and will culminate tomorrow with a program and awarding of outstanding differently-abled persons at SM City Iloilo.
During last Monday’s opening program, government officials linked to the service of differently-abled persons gave their speeches, mostly on what their department is doing in order to strictly implement Batasang Pambansa 344. This is an act to enhance the mobility of disabled persons (I prefer to call them differently-abled) by requiring certain buildings, institutions, establishments and public utilities to install facilities and other devices.
The concerns on differently-abled persons fall under the auspices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Minda Brigoli, regional head for DSWD said that the varied activities like “Hataw”, motorcade and a Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) photo exhibit at SM City Iloilo, raise awareness on the programs for the differently-abled persons. She added, “The celebration is a strategy to encourage every Filipino to take active responsibility in the upliftment of the economic and social conditions of PWDS in our society.” She shared that DSWD provide Technical Assistance and Resource Augmentation (TARA) to local government units in enabling them to empower PWDs. She also urged LGUs in Western Visayas to implement PWD-friendly programs and services. She urged everybody to follow the examples taken by several LGUs like New Lucena, which implements the Non-Handicapping Environment Project; Dumangas for its TAMPAD, which gives chips to PWDs for free transportation; San Jose, Antique for the Community Based Rehabilitation Program; Pandan, Antique for a handicraft business for PWDS; Iloilo City and Roxas City for Breaking Barriers for Youth and Young Adults; and Iloilo which has the Association of Disabled Persons Inc. that manufactures chairs and has livelihood projects.
Photos of these projects are on exhibit at SM City Iloilo until July 31, 2010, along with pictures of differently-abled persons taking photographs of the said mall and Museo Iloilo or having their pictures taken by the Photographic Society of Iloilo.
Marisa Montelibano, a singer, pianist and composer, along with Farley Luchan, presented songs for the audience. Cid Tampo, a teen with autism showed everybody how well he could sing.
