Only 2,663 of 7-M disabled Pinoys employed

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga - There are now about seven million Filipinos with various forms of disabilities, but only 2,663 of them are employed despite the passage of the Magna Carta for them eight years ago.

This was bared by Teresita Manzala, director of the Bureau of Local Employment during a dialogue here last Saturday with persons with disabilities (PWDs) from Central Luzon provinces.

Of the estimated seven million PWDs in the country, Manzala said about 650,000 have employable skills, although only 2,663 of them are employed.

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said employers still have "biases on the disadvantages" of hiring PWDs.

While those who refuse to hire the services of PWDs could be prosecuted under the law, the filing of court cases against such employers would be a last resort in favor of voluntary compliance, Laguesma said.

STAR columnist Art Borjal, chairman of the Good Samaritan Foundation for the Disadvantaged Inc., decried the inability of state universities and colleges to comply with requirements to provide structural facilities suitable for PWDs in school buildings.

Borjal said one of the reasons why PWDs have no qualifications is due to their lack of educational attainment.

"How do you expect a physically disabled student to attend school where there are no facilities to help him go even to the toilet?" Borjal asked. During the dialogue, he handed two checks of P100,000 each for livelihood projects of PWDs.

Laguesma and Borjal both appealed to corporate managers to provide jobs to qualified PWDs, as they cited provisions in Republic Act 7277 or the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons granting firms tax deductions equivalent to 25 percent of the salaries paid to PWDs.

Borjal, meanwhile, lauded companies which have been supporting the National Council for the Welfare of the Disabled by opening more job opportunities for PWDs. The council is headed by Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

He cited the Jollibee food chain which now employs four hearing- and speech-impaired youths in each of its 300 branches nationwide.