CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

AND

LOCAL LAW CONCERNCING ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

IN THE PHILIPPINES

The government’s concern for the disabled persons began around 1917 and the.On January 16-
20, 1978, the country hosted the Second International Conference on Legislation Concerning
the Disabled organized by the Rehabilitation International’s national affiliate, the Philippine
Foundation for the Rehabilitation for Disabled Persons (PFRD). During the said conference,
President Marcos signed P.D. No. 1509 creating the National Commission Concerning Disabled
Persons (NCCDP). NCCDP was tasked to prepare and adopt an integrated and comprehensive
long-term National Rehabilitation Plan (NRP).
From the time of its inception in 1978, the Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of
Disabled, Inc. (PFRD) served as the Commission’s Secretariat to assist the NCCDP Board in the
implementation of its objectives and functions. This arrangement stayed in effect until P.D.
1509 was amended by P.D. 1761 on January 4, 1981.
With the success of the important work began during the International Year of Disabled
Persons, the Decade of Disabled Persons (1981-1991) was proclaimed for nationwide
observance on December 17, 1981 with NCCDP as lead agency.

Person with disability

Person with disability refer to are those suffering from restriction of different abilities,
as a result of a mental, physical or sensory impairment, to perform an activity in the manner or
within the range considered normal for a human being.

Marginalized disable person with disability

Is one who lack access to rehabilitation services and opportunities to able to participate
fully in socioeconomic activities and who have no means of livelihood or whose income fall
below the poverty threshold

Rights and Privileges of Person with Disability

Article 5
Equality and non-discrimination

1. States Parties recognize that all persons are equal before and under the law and are
entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law.
 2. States Parties shall prohibit all discrimination on the basis of disability and guarantee to
persons with disabilities equal and effective legal protection against discrimination on all
grounds.
3. In order to promote equality and eliminate discrimination, States Parties shall take all
appropriate steps to ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided.
4. Specific measures which are necessary to accelerate or achieve de facto equality of
persons with disabilities shall not be considered discrimination under the terms of the
present Convention.
5. In order to correlate the provisions on equality and non-discrimination of persons with
disabilities, local laws such as:

The Magna Carta of Disabled Persons provide:

a) Equal Opportunity for Employment

b) Right to Barrie-Free Enivroment
c) Access to Quality Education and Special Education
d) Auxiliary Social Services

Article 8
Awareness Raising

1. States Parties undertake to adopt immediate, effective and appropriate measures:

(a) To raise awareness throughout society, including at the family level, regarding persons with
disabilities, and to foster respect for the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities;

(b) To combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices relating to persons with
disabilities, including those based on sex and age, in all areas of life;

(c) To promote awareness of the capabilities and contributions of persons with disabilities.

2. Measures to this end include:

(a) Initiating and maintaining effective public awareness campaigns designed:

(i)To nurture receptiveness to the rights of persons with disabilities;
(ii) To promote positive perceptions and greater social awareness towards persons with
disabilities;
(iii) To promote recognition of the skills, merits and abilities of persons with disabilities, and
of their contributions to the workplace and the labour market;

(b) Fostering at all levels of the education system, including in all children from an early age, an
attitude of respect for the rights of persons with disabilities;
(c) Encouraging all organs of the media to portray persons with disabilities in a manner
consistent with the purpose of the present Convention;

(d) Promoting awareness-training programmes regarding persons with disabilities and the
rights of persons with disabilities.

In the Philippines setting;

“INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE PHILIPPINES” every

December 3, Under Proclamation No. 1157 whereas “there is a need to synergize efforts and
resources by both public and private sectors for the promotion and improvement of well-being
of persons with disabilities to enable them to be part of our nation’s development and
progress”. That local and national shall be the lead agency for all the activities relative to the
observance of International Day of Persons with Disabilities. These also include the cooperation
of all public and private agencies and civil society organizations (C50s) engaged in the
development of persons with disabilities.

Article 9
Accessibility

1. To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all
aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with
disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to
transportation, to information and communications, including information and
communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or
provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas.

In relation to the accessibility, the Magna Carta of Disabled Persons also provides:

SECTION 25. Barrier-Free Environment

(a) Right to Barrier-Free Environment where it enable person with disability an better access
to establishment whether private or public and other places mentioned in Batas Pambansa
Bilang 344, otherwise known as the ‘ Accessibility Law’.

SECTION 26. Mobility -The State promote the mobility of disabled persons. Disabled persons
shall be allowed to drive motor vehicles, subject to the rules and regulations issued by the Land
Transportation Office pertinent to the nature of their disability and the appropriate adaptations
or modifications made on such vehicles.
SECTION 27. Access to Public Transport Facilities-The Department of Social Welfare and
Development shall develop a program to assist marginalized disabled persons gain access in the
use of public transport facilities. Such assistance may be in the form of subsidized
transportation fare. The said department shall also allocate such funds as may be necessary for
the effective implementation of the public transport program for the disabled persons. The
Accessibility Law,’• as amended, shall be made supplementary to this Act.

Another is in the Implemention Rules and Regulation of Republic Act No. 10754 The ‘An Act
Expanding the Benefits and Privileges of Persons with Disability’

Section 10. Express Lanes for Persons with Disabilities – Express lanes for persons with
disability shall be provided in all commercial and government establishments. In the absence
thereof, priority shall be given to them in all the transactions of the establishments.

Article 12
Equal Recognition Before the Law

1. States Parties reaffirm that persons with disabilities have the right to recognition everywhere
as persons before the law.

2. States Parties shall recognize that persons with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal
basis with others in all aspects of life.

3. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to provide access by persons with disabilities
to the support they may require in exercising their legal capacity.

4. States Parties shall ensure that all measures that relate to the exercise of legal capacity
provide for appropriate and effective safeguards to prevent abuse in accordance with
international human rights law. Such safeguards shall ensure that measures relating to the
exercise of legal capacity respect the rights, will and preferences of the person, are free of
conflict of interest and undue influence, are proportional and tailored to the person’s
circumstances, apply for the shortest time possible and are subject to regular review by a
competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial body. The – 11 – safeguards shall be
proportional to the degree to which such measures affect the person’s rights and interests.

5. Subject to the provisions of this article, States Parties shall take all appropriate and effective
measures to ensure the equal right of persons with disabilities to own or inherit property, to
control their own financial affairs and to have equal access to bank loans, mortgages and other
forms of financial credit, and shall ensure that persons with disabilities are not arbitrarily
deprived of their property.
To ensure the equal recognition of disabled persons, the Magna Carta of Disabled Persons
provides for the non-discrimination provisions:

1. Discrimination on Employment
2. Discrimination on Transportation
3. Discrimination on the Use of Public
4. Discrimination on the Use of Public Accommodations

4. Specific measures which are necessary to accelerate or achieve de facto equality of persons
with disabilities shall not be considered discrimination under the terms of the present
Convention.
 Article 13
Access to justice

“1. States Parties shall ensure effective access to justice for persons with disabilities on an equal
basis with others, including through the provision of procedural and age-appropriate
accommodations, in order to facilitate their effective role as direct and indirect participants,
including as witnesses, in all legal proceedings, including at investigative and other preliminary
stages.
2. In order to help to ensure effective access to justice for persons with
disabilities, States Parties shall promote appropriate training for those working in the field of
administration of justice, including police and prison staff.”

In order to comply with the requirements, the Philippines enacted the R.A. 7277, also known as
“Magna Carta for Disabled Persons”. The section 44 and 45 of the said law provides that:
“SECTION 44. Enforcement by the Secretary of Justice
(a) Denial of Right
1) Duty to Investigate
the Secretary of Justice shall investigate alleged violations of this Act, and shall
undertake periodic reviews of compliance of covered entities under this Act.
(b) Potential Violations If the Secretary of Justice has reasonable cause to believe that:
1) any person or group of persons is engaged in a pattern of practice of discrimination
under this Act; or
2) any person or group of persons has been discriminated against under this Act and
such discrimination raises and issue of general public importance, the Secretary of
Justice may commence a legal action in any appropriate court.

SECTION 45. Authority of Court

The court may grant any equitable relief that such court considers to be appropriate, including,
to the extent required by this Act:
(a) granting temporary, preliminary or permanent relief;
(b) providing an auxiliary aid or service, modification of policy, practice or procedure, or
alternative method; and
(c) making facilities readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.”

Article 14
Liberty and security of person

1. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others:
(a) Enjoy the right to liberty and security of person;
 (b) Are not deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily, and that any deprivation of
liberty is in conformity with the law, and that the existence of a disability shall in no case
justify a deprivation of liberty.
2. States Parties shall ensure that if persons with disabilities are deprived of their liberty
through any process, they are, on an equal basis with others, entitled to guarantees in
accordance with international human rights law and shall be treated in compliance with the
objectives and principles of the present Convention, including by provision of reasonable
accommodation.

This article of the convention is already complied under the Article II (Bill of Rights) of the
Philippine Constitution.

Article 17
Protecting the Integrity of the Person

Every person with disabilities has a right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity
on an equal basis with others.

In order to comply with the Article of the Convention there are local laws enacted by the
Philippines, whereas:

1. ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 35: Directing all departments, bureaus, government-

owned and/or controlled corporations, government financial institutions, local
government units, state universities/colleges and schools, and other
government/instrumentalities to promote and conduct relevant activities during the
annual observance of the national disability prevention and rehabilitation week.

Under this Administrative Order, it enacts the following:

- National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week on July 23 each year.
- Under Section 2 of the said order it mandates that: “All departments, agencies, offices,
GOCCs and LGUs and other government agencies/instrumentalities as well as the mass
media and the entire citizenry are hereby required to extend their whole-hearted
support and cooperation by conducting specific programs necessary to give effect to this
order.”

Article 18
Liberty of movement and nationality
1. States Parties shall recognize the rights of persons with disabilities to liberty of movement, to
freedom to choose their residence and to a nationality, on an equal basis with others, including
by ensuring that persons with disabilities:
(a) Have the right to acquire and change a nationality and are not deprived of their nationality
arbitrarily or on the basis of disability;
(b) Are not deprived, on the basis of disability, of their ability to obtain, possess and utilize
documentation of their nationality or other documentation of identification, or to utilize
relevant processes such as immigration proceedings, that may be needed to facilitate exercise
of the right to liberty of movement;
(c) Are free to leave any country, including their own;
(d) Are not deprived, arbitrarily or on the basis of disability, of the right to enter their own
country.
2. Children with disabilities shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right
from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know
and be cared for by their parents.

Article 19
Living Independently and Being Included in the Community

States Parties to this Convention recognize the equal right of all persons with disabilities
to live in the community, with choices equal to others, and shall take effective and
appropriate measures to facilitate full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of this right
and their full inclusion and participation in the community, including by ensuring that:

Persons with disabilities have the opportunity to choose their place of residence and
where and with whom they live on an equal basis with others and are not obliged to live
in a particular living arrangement;

Persons with disabilities have access to a range of in-home, residential and other
community support services, including personal assistance necessary to support living
and inclusion in the community, and to prevent isolation or segregation from the
community;
Article 20
Personal Mobility

States Parties shall take effective measures to ensure personal mobility with the
greatest possible independence for persons with disabilities, including by:
Facilitating the personal mobility of persons with disabilities in the manner and at the
time of their choice, and at affordable cost;

Facilitating access by persons with disabilities to quality mobility aids, devices, assistive
technologies and forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including by making them
available at affordable cost;

Providing training in mobility skills to persons with disabilities and to specialist staff
working with persons with disabilities;
Encouraging entities that produce mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies to
take into account all aspects of mobility for persons with disabilities.

Batas Pambansa 344 was enacted by the Philippines, which requires that:
“architectural facilities or structural features as shall reasonably enhance the mobility of
disabled persons such as sidewalks, ramps, railings and the like. If feasible, all such existing
buildings, institutions, establishments, or public utilities to be constructed or established for
which licenses or permits had already been issued may comply with the requirements of this
law. Special bus stops shall be designed for disabled persons. Discriminating against disabled
persons in the carriage or transportation of passengers is hereby declared unlawful.”

To furthermore comply with the convention, under Republic Act No. 7277, as amended, enacts
that:
SECTION 26. Mobility.
The State promote the mobility of disabled persons. Disabled persons shall be allowed to
drive motor vehicles, subject to the rules and regulations issued by the Land
Transportation Office pertinent to the nature of their disability and the appropriate
adaptations or modifications made on such vehicles.”

Discrimination on Transportation
SECTION 34. Public Transportation
It shall be considered discrimination for the franchises or operators and personnel of sea,
land, and air transportation facilities to charge higher fare or to refuse to convey a
passenger, his orthopedic devices, personal effects, and merchandise by reason of his
disability.

Under the DILG Memorandum Circular Number 2011- 004, it provides that:

- The PUV operators shall grant fare discounts as prescribed by law, policies, rules and
regulations to Senior Citizens and Persons with disability.
- The PUV operator shall display the International Symbol of Accessibility in their units
and shall designate seats in all their units specifically for the use of Persons with
Disabilities as follows;
For PUBs
 Regular buses shall have at least five (5) designated seats for PWDs near entrance doors
 Air-conditioned buses shall have at least four (4) designated seats for PWDs near
entrance doors.
 For regular and air-conditioned city buses, other passengers may use those designated
seats if not occupied but shall yield them to incoming PWD’s whenever the occasion
arises.
 For provincial buses other passengers may use those designated seats if no PWDs shall
occupy these seats at the start of the trip.
 Owners or operators of PUBs operating in highly urbanized cities shall install in their
units audio-visual aids such as buzzers, bells flashing lights to inform the driver of any
alighting passenger.
For PUJ’s
 Owners of PUJ’s shall provide at least two (2) seats, at the convenience of the PWD, for
the use of PWDs in their units.
 Other passengers may use those designated seats if not occupied but shall yield them to
incoming PWDs whenever the occasion arises.
For Bus Terminals and Stations
 Widen doors/access to comfort rooms to be able to allow the entry of wheelchairs
 Provide ramps for easy access by wheel chair to the waiting lounges; and
 Mark a bench or space for the use of PWDs in waiting lounges. This may be used by
others if there are no PWDs using it.

It shall be considered discriminating for PUV operators and their drivers/personnel to

charge higher fare or to refuse to convey a PWD, his orthopedic devices, personal
effects and merchandise by reason of his disability.