DESPITE the passage of the Accessibility Law, or Batas Pambansa (BP) Blg. 344 (BP 344), more than four decades ago, persons with disability (PWDs) continue to face challenges in their everyday lives.
BP 344 was enacted to promote the rights of PWDs to participate fully in social life and economic development by providing them with barrier-free environments.
The law was officially approved by President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. on February 25, 1983.
It mandates the installation of accessibility features such as ramps, wide doorways, accessible elevators, and designated parking spaces in public and private buildings, streets, highways, public transport vehicles, and transport terminals.
Entrances and interior pathways must allow the safe and smooth movement of wheelchair users and semi-ambulatory individuals.
Buildings must also provide specially designated and clearly marked accessible parking spaces near main entrances.
Public utility vehicles and transport terminals, meanwhile, must incorporate priority seating, accessible boarding devices, and clear directional signs.
BP 344 was strengthened by the passage of the Magna Carta for Persons with Disability, or Republic Act (RA) No. 7277, which was subsequently expanded by RA Nos. 9442, 10070, 10524, 10754, and 11228.
RA 7277 was enacted on March 24, 1992, to promote the rehabilitation, self-development, and self-reliance of Filipinos with disabilities.
The law defines disabled persons as those suffering from restrictions in their abilities, as a result of mental, physical, or sensory impairment, to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being.
Impairment refers to any loss, diminution, or aberration of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure or function.
Disability, meanwhile, refers to: (a) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more psychological, physiological, or anatomical functions of an individual or the activities of such individual; (b) a record of such an impairment; or (c) being regarded as having such an impairment.
RA 7277 provides equal opportunities in employment, access to quality education and health services, barrier-free public infrastructure, and the exercise of civil rights while prohibiting discrimination against PWDs.
RA 9442, enacted in 2007, granted additional privileges, such as a 20-percent discount on medicines and public utility services, while imposing strict penalties for public ridicule and vilification.
RA 10070, enacted in 2010, established institutional mechanisms such as Persons with Disability Affairs Offices (PDAOs) in local government units.
RA Nos. 10524 (2013), 10754 (2016), and 11228 (2019) further expanded job placement quotas, tax exemptions, and mandatory PhilHealth coverage for PWDs.
Yet despite these laws and the protections they provide, PWDs continue to encounter significant challenges in their daily lives.
This year’s Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival featured the PWD short film “Para-Paraan (Finding a Way Through),” which reveals the barriers embedded in ordinary spaces and the constant adjustments PWDs must make simply to navigate them.
Directed, written, and produced by filmmaker and advocate Mae Chan Li, the 10-minute documentary features Katrina “Kat” Hernandez, a para powerlifter and wheelchair user, as she goes about seemingly ordinary tasks — withdrawing money from an ATM, picking up medication at a pharmacy, and buying groceries.
Hernandez was born with a rare condition called arthrogryposis multiplex congenita.
Steep ramps, broken sidewalks, poorly designed elevators, and badly constructed roads turn these basic errands into formidable obstacles.
What begins as a personal journey becomes a broader reflection on the systems that shape participation in society, exposing how resilience is too often expected of PWDs where accessibility should already exist.
The film was awarded the Special Jury Prize for “its stark, grounded documentary style; for its piercing look into the physical and systemic barriers of urban life; for challenging audiences to rethink accessibility, inclusion, and the ordinary spaces around us; for its masterful but economical narrative; and for its powerful advocacy for the rights of the disabled.”
Li, who co-founded the advocacy platform Kat Out of the Box with Hernandez, has long championed the use of digital media, community engagement, and public education to dismantle the stigma surrounding disability.
Kat Out of the Box is a social media account dedicated to shedding light on what it is like to be a wheelchair user in the Philippines.
“We want to be able to spark conversations among people without disabilities so they can see that it’s not just our disabilities that make us disabled, it’s actually the barriers around us that contribute the most to us being left behind,” Hernandez said.
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Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the Seafarers’ Division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0908-8665786./PN
