PWDs urge full enforcement of Accessibility Law
Only very few commercial establishments, buildings and public utilities have facilities and features that are friendly to the special needs of persons with disability, according to persons with disability (PWDs) interviewed on the Philippine Information Agency cable television program.
The group urged concerned authority to fully implement Batas Pambansa 344 otherwise known as the Accessibility Law, an act to enhance the mobility of disabled persons by requiring certain buildings, institutions, establishments and public utilities to install facilities and other devices, in order to promote the realization of the rights of disabled persons to participate fully in the social life and development of the societies in which they live in.
As stipulated in BP 344, in the case of public conveyance, devices such as the prominent display of posters or stickers shall be used to generate general public awareness of the rights of the disabled and foster understanding of their special needs. Special bus stops shall be designed for disable persons.
Discriminating against disabled persons in the carriage of transportation of passengers is hereby declared unlawful, BP 344 states.
Armie Demagajes, president of the Iloilo Federation of Differently Abled Persons, said several municipalities in Iloilo Province do not implement BP 344.
“That is why during the week-long National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week celebration, all municipal development planning coordinators along with architects were invited for a forum on Accessibility Law,” Demagajes said.
Architect Alberto Saclauso of the Department of Public Works and Highways, chairman of Sub-Committee on Accessibility and permanent alternate of the Regional Director for the Regional Committee on Disability Affairs, said only about 30 percent of buildings or establishments have implemented what the law requires.
But Saclauso is optimistic that with the continuous advocacy on BP 344, at least 80 percent implementation of the law would be attained by year 2012 as the observance of the Philippine Decade of Persons with Disabilities concludes.
He said that some establishments have installed the required features of BP 344, but not in accordance with the standard specifications set by the Accessibility Law.
This year, new buildings and future building constructions in Iloilo will be monitored and conduct of advocacies and education campaign will be intensified to help increase the public’s level of awareness on Accessibility Law, he added.
This year’s theme of the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week is “Sa Istrukturang May Access, Lahat Ay Able.”
