Section 3: Disability Movement in the Philippines
The Philippine Government through its lead agency, the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), continues to hold dialogue and consultations with local chief executives and other concerned groups at the local level to lobby for support to developmental efforts that will benefit persons with disabilities. It has coordinated with partner agencies in the conduct of significant disability events to generate public awareness and support. It has also lobbied with the legislators for passage of the bills and submitted the positions papers. It has conducted advocacy programs and public information projects in various places in the country to ensure continuing consciousness on critical issues and concerns affecting persons with disabilities. Finally, it has directed the expeditious formulation of the guidelines on the:
- Issuance of Identification cards to persons with disabilities for the entitlement of 20% discount on different establishments stipulated in Republic Act No. 9442. The approved guidelines have already been disseminated to all Local Government Units (LGUs) nationwide for implementation;
- Establishment of Regional Councils on Disability Affairs (RCDA) in place of the existing Regional Committees for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (RCWDPs). Upon the request of NCDA, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has reconsidered the chairmanship of the RCDAs through its Regional Directors
The Philippine Government recognizes the significant role of organizations of persons with disability in their development process. For the past decade, the Government has been supporting efforts for the formation and strengthening of self-help groups of persons with disabilities by providing of technical assistance where needed, and resource augmentation towards economic independence of the beneficiaries. Self-help groups have also proven themselves to be effective lobbyists and advocates on issues affecting persons with disabilities. National and local consultations and dialogues are conducted regularly with representatives of the disability persons organizations (DPOs), spearheaded by the NCWDP and the regional committees on disability. This undertaking represents an institutionalized strategy to monitor, update and gather feedback on the needs, issues and concerns of persons with disabilities.
3.1 Disability Organizations
There are a number of disability NGOs providing services to persons with disabilities in the Philippines. In fact, recognizing its limitations in addressing the needs of persons with disabilities, the government continues to reach out to NGOs to enlist their support and assistance in providing services to the disability sector.
In recent years, disability organizations have been actively involved in providing services to their own members, especially in the areas of rehabilitation, education and vocational training and self or open employment. The national federation of cross-disability grassroots organizations of persons with disability, KAMPI, is implementing one of the largest rehabilitation programs for children with disabilities aged 0-14. This organization is a partner of the Department of Education in providing training and orientation on special needs education to 400 receiving
public school teachers in 5 regions of the Philippines. Other disability-NGOs partners of the Education Department are providing training to public school teachers including the Resources for the Blind, Inc. and the Christoffel Blinden Mission, a Germany-based NGO.
Several other NGOs are providing services; however these tend to be on a small-scale and with restricted geographic coverage. There is a need to develop a framework for collaboration to prevent duplication of activities among these NGOs and to promote coordination, complementarities of efforts and sharing of examples of good practices as well as resources at all levels.
The knowledge and expertise of these disability organizations are also often limited to the needs and requirements of the specific impairment groups whom they serve or represent. Until recently, when local government units have become more aware of providing resources and support for the sustainability of the efforts of NGOs, there has been a limited degree of sustainability after funding (which often is provided by a partner organization or foundation overseas), is exhausted. There is a persistent need to develop the capacities of these organizations to provide effective and sustainable solutions to the needs and concerns of persons with disabilities other than short term stop-gap measures like donations of reconditioned assistive devices, etc.
UNESCO and UNICEF are among the agencies of the United Nations that have been providing both funding and technical support to the Department of Education to encourage initiatives on special needs education in the Philippines. Despite these initiatives, however, the education system is far from being able to realize the goal of including the widest possible number of learners with special needs as problems like low enrollment, disparity between boys and girls with disabilities, and high dropout and repetition rate among students with disabilities remain pressing issues.