XI. Accessibility: Physical and ICT
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) are responsible for the implementation of the Accessibility Law or Batas Pambansa Blg. 34478. D.P.W.H. has the responsibility to ensure the provision of accessibility features in roads and buildings not only for the orthopedically- handicapped but also for those who are deaf, have vision impairments, and other types of disabilities. The Commission on Information and Communication Technology and the National Computer Center have just been recently enlisted as among the government agencies to ensure accessibility features in terms of access to internet the websites.
However, if one walks around Metro Manila one will see that the 26-year old Batas Pambansa is glaringly ignored and violated. The foot bridges, overpasses, underpasses, sidewalks and thoroughfares are barriers and obstacle courses instead of being accessible to persons with mobility impairments and the public as a whole. Government buildings, schools, recreation, entertainment and sports venues are hardly accessible to persons who use wheelchairs and crutches. Though one report of the DPWH says that curb cut-outs have been made in about 90% of all the major thoroughfares in Metro Manila and Cebu City79, there are still cases of blinds falling into manholes. Many times, blind travelers are force to walk on the streets due tothe proliferation of sidewalk vendors, street fences and other newly built road structures including street signs.Elevators in buildings for public use are mostly without Braille signs or talking guides for the blind clients. It appears that in terms of Article 9 of CRPD as well as the provisions of Batas Pambansa 344, as commonly express by Filipino persons with disabilities referring to unenforced law, You name the violations and you will promptly discover them.
- Note #79
- Purcil, Lauro. Country Report presented to Japan International Cooperation Agency, 2004
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Government authorities to a great extent is competent in formulating laws, policies, Executive Orders, rules and regulations among others in addressing issues on accessibility. Government can also be credited in the formulation of these mandates and instructions.Representatives of organizations of persons with disabilities, advocates, professionals and experts of the fields of access to physical, transportation and the Information Communication Technology( ICT) are among the most active participants and lobbyists. The National Council on the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP) of DSWDnow upgraded to the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), under the Office of the President (OP), has for years included in its operational structure the Sub Committee on Accessibility on transportation telecommunication, and in recent years even the Sub Committee on ICCT There were periods when these consultative bodies were chaired by persons with disabilities consistent with the principle of full participation. Even the Sectoral Council of Persons with Disabilities of the National Anti-Poverty Commission of RA 8425 in the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act80 was an active participant in these bodies. There are non-government organizations led and manned by persons with disabilities like the Accessibility Monitoring Committees or (AMC), the PASAKAY, a coalition of access in transportation and many more groups of persons without disabilities. The Philippines is a signatory to various international understandings like the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and the Biwako Declaration; the problem is attitudinal and cultural.
- Note #80
- National Anti-Poverty Commission
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One highly placed government official who is well known as strict implementer of laws, expressed his opinion in public and national television that the sector should stop dreaming that their laws (referring to BP 344) would be adequately enforced. Instead, he proposed a solution that persons with disabilities should just stay in their residences and limit their proliferations.
In a nut shell, he declared that the problem is not the non implementation of laws but the mobility of persons with disabilities. This statement was done in front of Atty. Jessica Siquijor, a lawyer on wheelchair employed at the Office of Solicitor General, Department of Justice. She was accompanied by the national television journalist, Jay Taruc.81 After the airing of that footage, a group of about 200 persons with disabilities marched in protest from the EDSA Shrine in Ortigas to the Office of Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA). The protest march was held in July 19, 2007 right at the middle in of the celebration of National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) Week.
- Note #81
- Personal Interview with Atty. Jessica Siquijor by Lauro Purcil. March 2007.
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Another well-known public issue on accessibility is the decision of the former NCWDP management to locate its new office building in an exiled lot. To reach the new site, an ordinary commuting person with a disability must first traverse a well known Killer Highway
and then climb up a steep footbridge built in total violation of BP 344 and then after succeeding that obstacle course take a tricycle ride which extract substantial amount to pay his fare. Finally, he shall find a newly built edifice that is being renovated due to the absence of accessibility features. All these violations were done even while the chief agency tasked to look after the sector has structures that regularly consult the sector. But, the good news is that all of these were done before the entry into force of the CRPD.
Certainly, there is enormous gap between laws and policies and implementation. This results from a flaw in the government culture where laws are looked upon not as mandates but as mere suggestions which may be violated at will and with impunity.
In the accessibility of the websites, there is hardly a government site that honors the right to access the internet highway. The growing popularity of text messaging, Express Teller Machines (ETM) in banks and other information-communication gadgets is creating new demands from the vision impaired sector. The desire for independence in accessing texted messages and in conducting business with banks demands the inclusion of audio synthesizing components to these technical innovations. There is more work to be done to make the Philippine's cyberspace environment friendly to persons with disabilities.