Persons with disabilities bat for community-based rehabilitation
Persons with disabilities in the province of Iloilo are batting for community-based rehabilitation (CBR) wherein they could actively participate in.
This was evident during the Consultative Conference with PWD Leaders and Focal Person on CBR Program held last Oct. 18, 2007 at the Centennial Resort Hotel and Convention Center, Alta Tierra, Jaro. The conference was organized by the Provincial Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) and the Iloilo Provincial Federation of Differently Abled Persons (IPFDAP). It was attended by representatives from the local government units and organization for disabled persons in different municipalities.
Mario Abaygar, president of the Association of Disabled Persons in Iloilo (ADPI) said 
that the effort aims to assess how organizations for disabled persons in municipalities can be helped. "We discovered that they initially had projects and they have a budget. We should present a program that will help implement these projects and one of these is the CBR."
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), CBR is a strategy within community development for the rehabilitation, equalization of communities and social integration of all persons with disabilities (PWDs). It is implemented through the combined efforts of the PWDs themselves, their families and the community.
The prevention of impairments and medical and health services fall under rehabilitation. 
To foster equalization, there should be full participation of the PWDs, improvement of their quality of life and poverty reduction. Under the social aspect, the CBR should harness the potential of the PWD and move them from marginalization towards citizenship.
Abaygar said the movement from marginalization and citizenship is crucial in this program. "There was a time when PWDs are part of the marginalized sector and were treated as persons under welfare. Why do they still complain? Then, the government provided them with prosthetics. How come they still complain? The government created the accessibility law, but how come they are still not pleased? The key is in citizenship. PWDs should have the same rights as anyone else and that includes the right to participate and be responsible for ourselves," he said.
He issued this challenge to the PWDs. "Sometimes, the problem lies on the PWD himself after the government has done its part," he said.
The government has formulated Republic Act 7277 or the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons. This is an act providing for the rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance of disabled persons and their integration into the mainstream of society and for other purposes.
In Aug. 21, 2002, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared the period 2002 to 2012 as the Philippine decade of persons with disabilities. She directed the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons to nationalize all disability-related efforts by formulating and issuing a Comprehensive National Plan of Action for the Decade which translates the objectives of RA 7277. She also instructed all departments of the government to implement such.
The funds for the implementation of these projects will be taken from the concerned agencies, not less than one percent of its annual appropriation.