MANILA--Newly-installed Quezon City Mayor Joy G. Belmonte has promised to look into the accessibility problems of persons with disability (PWDs) using wheelchairs as a mode of transportation in Barangay Novaliches Proper, commonly called as Novaliches Bayan.
"Makakaasa po kayo na ang inyong suliranin ay aming aaksyunan (We assure you that we will act on your problems)", Belmonte said in a Facebook message to Olivia Peralta Mananquil, a paraplegic from Novaliches Proper who is dependent on a wheelchair in moving around the community.
Earlier, Mananquil complained of the difficulty she and other PWDs in Novaliches are experiencing in traveling on a wheelchair because of the unfriendly sidewalks and few accessibility ramps for them.
Mananquil told Belmonte that due to lack of accessibility ramps for PWDs and inadequate width of most sidewalks to accommodate wheelchairs, they always have to compete for space on the streets with buses, trucks, passenger jeepneys, taxicabs, private cars, motorcycles, tricycles and other types of vehicles in the area.
She said they experience such difficulty along the narrow Gen. Luis St. leading to Valenzuela City and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) as well as Susano Road heading to North Caloocan such as Camarin. Bagumbong, Deparo, Urduja Village and Llano, including B.F. Homes Caloocan.
They suffer the same ordeal in traversing portions of the Quirino Highway which leads to San Jose del Monte City, Norzagaray, and Sta. Maria in Bulacan in the north and Balintawak, Cubao, Manila and Caloocan City in the south.
Other narrow streets in Barangay Novaliches Proper with inadequate sidewalks and lack accessibility ramps for PWDs are Ramirez, Sarmiento, Geronimo, Dumalay, Austria, and Buenamar.
"Hindi po kasi nila maiintindihan ang aming suliranin dahil hindi naman sila gumagamit ng wheelchair (They will not understand our predicament because they do not use a wheelchair in their travel)", Mananquil said, referring to normal people.
The sidewalks in Novaliches are almost always occupied by pedestrians and vendors, leaving no more space for people using wheelchairs in moving around. (PNA)
