MANILA-- The United Nations (UN) is set to review the Philippines' implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on September 12, Wednesday, in Geneva, Switzerland.
The constructive dialogue, to be attended by a delegation from the Philippine Coalition on the UNCRPD and representatives from the Philippine government, will discuss a "State Report" while looking into a "Parallel Report" from the civil society, primarily the coalition, a report from the Commission on Human Rights, and other source documents from the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.
In an interview, Lauro Purcil Jr., convenor of the coalition and president of the Call Foundation, said the group as the focal persons concerned, seeks to "influence" the international community to issue a concluding recommendation that is in line with the real needs of persons with disabilities (PWD).
The concluding recommendations from the CRPD Committee are expected to outline specific targets for implementation by the Philippine government in the next four years.
Abner Manlapaz, president of the Life Haven Center for Independent Living and a member of the coalition, is hopeful that the government will fully apply all these.
"Sana kung ano man ang kalalabasan nitong proseso na ito ay tanggapin ng gobyerno at subukan niyang i-apply ang lahat ng rekomendasyon para magbago na talaga nang tunay ang buhay ng mga may kapansanan (Whatever is the outcome of this process, the government should accept and try to apply all the recommendations to truly improve the lives of PWDs)," he said, underlining inclusivity and the full implementation of PWD laws already in place in the country.
The constructive dialogue will revolve around the 33 Articles of the Convention which mandate the State to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of Filipinos with disabilities on education, health, access to justice, rehabilitation, social protection, participation in political life, inclusion in the community, among others.
Statistics and data collection, international cooperation, and national monitoring and implementation of the Convention will also be revisited.
A decade after the UN CRPD was ratified, Manlapaz feels that the country still has a long way to go before it can blot out the insecurity a number of PWDs still feel. "Napakalayo kasi may diskriminasyon pa rin (It's a long way to go because there's still discrimination)."
He noted the issues now hounding the sector, citing that on the issue of transportation alone, most of the modern jeepneys operating are not PWD-friendly.
"The ongoing modernization of public transportation is not ensuring that accessibility is one of the criteria in the design and in issuing franchise permit," he said.
"Public transportation is important in the socio-economic life of any person, especially for persons with disabilities who are already burdened by the huge extra cost amount," he added.
On accessibility to education, Manlapaz said the current system continuously produce uneducated PWDs.
Aside from accessible school buildings and public transportation, there are cases when the school has no other option but to reject the student due to the absence of trained teachers to handle children with disability.
In most cases, Manlapaz said public school does not even have accessible learning and teaching materials.
Manlapaz urged the government to increase funds in addressing these issues and commit to the full implementation of the Accessibility Law.
Purcil, meanwhile, lamented the change in policy implementation whenever an official ends his service.
"Aabante ng dalawang steps, tapos aatras ng tatlong steps (We will be moving two steps forward then three steps backward)."
To address this, he suggested that an orientation clause for officials and policy-makers be included in the CRPD recommendation.
Purcil said economic managers should treat the provision of assistive devices, personal assistants, and sign language interpreters to PWDs as an investment to generate more job instead of a welfare cost.
He stressed that this strategy will not only create job opportunities to PWDs but also a chance for them to participate in the society on an equal basis with others.
"Remove the provision of the assistive device under welfare costs and instead categorize it as an economic investment for employment generation, they will provide more employment," he said in Filipino.
He also proposed more training for PWDs for them to serve as future trainers to other PWDs.
"I hope the economic cluster will look into these for us to finally rid the image of PWDs as DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) cases," he added. "Our concern is not social welfare, our concern is employment, education, economics." (PNA)
