PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan here are set to approve an ordinance seeking to give PHP500 as monthly financial assistance to persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Board Member Sharon Abiog-Onda said Thursday that the amount would be a big help to more or less 7,000 PWDs in the province, whose livelihood activities are limited by their condition.
“Article 5, Paragraph 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) states that the Philippines is mandated to implement laws that would benefit our PWDs. This is what we are hoping to give our PWDs to support them,” she said.
Onda’s proposed ordinance, which was filed this week in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, is being studied by the Committee on Appropriations.
“They can use the financial support in purchasing their medicine, their food, and even in their check-up,” said Onda.
In the proposed measure, PWDs with several classifications can benefit, like abandoned, abused, disability, handicap, independent living, indigent, impairment, disabled gifted, fits/seizures, marginalized disabled persons, mental disability, neglected, orthopedically handicapped, persons with behavioral problems, persons with hearing impairment, and persons with visual impairment.
Each Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) will conduct the validation of the PWDs, who will be issued identification cards.
“They must be legitimate Palawan residents,” she said. (Celeste Anna Formoso/PNA)
