DAVAO CITY – The city government said Friday that more persons with disability (PWD) would be given plantilla or regular positions.
This came after the City Council approved on the third and final reading on October 18 the creation of the Persons with Disabilities Affairs Center - Persons with Disabilities Affairs Office (PDAC-PDAO) as a division under the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO).
Sarah Festin, chief of the CSWDO Social Welfare Operations Division, said the unit would be responsible for the processing of the PWD identification cards and take charge of the information, education, and communication campaigns (IECs), as well as technical and monitoring tasks.
Based on the ordinance, a total of 15 positions are to be filled for the following posts: division head, assistant division head, administrative staff of the division, regular positions under the Operations section, and regular positions under the unit's Promotive section.
"The issuance of PWD IDs has long been offered by the city, even without the ordinance that institutionalizes the creation of the division," Festin noted.
She underscored the importance of the division and the staffing of regular personnel, especially because the scope of who is considered a PWD has expanded.
“In our 2021 data, we have more or less 19,000 PWDs. Aside from that, we have categories for PWD, we have seven types of those considered PWDs,” Festin said.
The CSWDO has partnered with the City Council's Committee on Social Services for the passage of another legislation that would allow PWDs to man barangay-based help desks. (PNA)
