City eyes community-based rehab for PWDs

ILOILO CITY – The city government here is eyeing the immediate implementation of a comprehensive community-based rehabilitation (CBR) program for persons with disabilities (PWDs) by opening the floodgates of services and opportunities for disabled persons.

City social welfare officer Clarita Dignadice told stakeholders about the government’s program in adopting a comprehensive plan through Executive Order No. 437 issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the need at the community level for an effective approach in providing comprehensive rehab services and in promoting the rights and empowerment of persons with disabilities.

Speaking at the orientation seminar of CRB held at the provincial capitol here, Dignadice said the city government recently created the Office of Persons with Disability Affairs (OPDA) headed by Dolores Laudenorio to supervise the needs and rights of some 5,000 persons with disabilities.

Republic Act 7277 spells out a magna carta for disabled persons and their rights and privileges for employment, health, education, auxiliary and social services, telecommunications, accessibility, political and civil rights.

The law is augmented by RA 8425 otherwise known as the social reform act providing for poverty alleviation of the basic sectors, RA 7160 or the local government code which mandates the devolution of services to the local government units and the Biwako Millennium Framework supported by Proclamation 240 in declaring the period 2003-2012 as the Philippine Decade of Persons with Disabilities.

Dignadice said the common types of disabilities here include those with orthopedic handicaps, visual and hearing impairments, learning disability, epilepsy, mental illness and persons suffering from a combination of these difficulties.

CBR is a wholistic strategy in delivering services that involves measuring the community level by and building the resources at the locality for poverty reduction, rehabilitation, equalization of opportunities for the empowerment of PWDs and for their eventual inclusion into the mainstream of society.

Dignadice said the Presidential order encourages of local government units to adopt the CBR program and to allocate funds for the purpose. The concerned national government agencies shall provide support to the LGUs for the effective and sustained implementation of CBR.

The local government is expected to enact an ordinance adopting the CBR with corresponding budget support and include CBR orientation for barangay captains and organizes barangay committees to ensure that CBR is understood and implemented at the barangay level.

The program implementors at the city level include the city mayor, city social welfare officer, other city stakeholders, barangay captains, other barangay officials, city council, city health officer, city local government operations officer, PWD federations and nongovernment organizations, day care workers and barangay nutrition scholars and barangay health workers.