Lawmaker: All establishments mandated to have PWD priority lanes

MANILA: A lawmaker on Tuesday urged all commercial and government establishments to implement express or priority lanes for persons with disabilities (PWD) in their facilities. Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. cited a seven-page legal opinion signed by Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary Raul Vasquez, on behalf of Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, which emphasized that the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act (RA) No. 10754 require both private and government entities to provide such lanes. RA 10754 is the Act Expanding the Benefits and Privileges of Persons with Disability. 'In the absence of physical express lanes in enterprises, the DOJ stressed that these establishments should nonetheless give priority to PWD who have transactions in their respective places of business," Villafuerte said in a statement. Villafuerte said PWD should be given priority in all their transactions, noting that the law does not differentiate between essential and non-essential t ransactions and must be implemented comprehensively. He further highlighted the DOJ opinion affirming that the use of the term 'all' in the law implies inclusivity and does not permit establishments to exempt certain items or services from the express lane policy. "The use of the word 'all' implies that the law does not intend to distinguish between the establishments or transactions involving items that are accessible to everyone and items which are of limited quantity,' Villafuerte quoted the DOJ as saying. The DOJ opinion was issued in response to a query from the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) regarding the implementation of PWD express lanes. A certain Jan Danica Modequillo wrote to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) about the alleged lack of express lanes during the ticket sale for Korean artists' concert by an SM Business Service Center earlier this year. The DSWD endorsed the complaint to the NCDA, which then sought guidance from the DOJ on whether the express lane policy should also apply to non-essential services and transactions involving limited-quantity items, such as concert tickets. Villafuerte, meanwhile, pushed for the passage of House Bill (HB) 8223, which seeks to provide a PHP2,000 monthly disability allowance to PWD. He said this social protection measure would further help PWD integrate into society by supporting their financial needs. 'HB 8223 mandates the DSWD to draw up, in consultation with the NCDA and a representative organization of PWDs, a support program granting a monthly stipend of an initial P2,000 to PWDs to help them cope with the ever-rising cost of living and support their full integration into our society,' Villafuerte said. The bill, otherwise known as the Disability Support Allowance for Persons with Disabilities Act, aims to strengthen the financial support provided to PWD and index the allowance to inflation rates. Source: Philippines News Agency