By Jocelyn P. Alvarez
ZAMBOANGA
CITY - It’s all systems go for the observance of the 35th National
Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) week as Ms. Leila Awis of the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office IX bares
program of activities for the July 17-23 NDPR week celebration.
Awis said the weeklong celebration will
kick off on July 17 with a motorcade around the city thoroughfare where various
government agencies, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) associations, academe and
other multi-sectoral groups are expected to join.
The
participants will converge at the Office
of City Social Welfare and Development (OCSWD) in Petit barracks for the motorcade which is expected to start 8:30 a.m. End
point is at the Zamboanga City National High School Coliseum where newly
installed Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar is expected to give the keynote
message.
Other
activities lined-up in consonance with the celebration include the Philippine
Information Agency (PIA)-organized media forum set on July 18 at its office’s
conference room; the city initiated PWD congress on July 19; skills training
cum employment set on July 18-20 which is a joint undertaking of the Technical
Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE). The said training will include 25 PWD- beneficiaries who
will undergo rigid training on foot spa, hand spa and facial treatment.
On
July 17-23, OCSWD will conduct “Advocacy on Disability Prevention.” Other activities set on this date include:
Registration of PWD; Diagnosis of children who are suspected to have learning
or developmental disability and Provision of fee legal assistance to PWDs by
the Commission on Human Rights CHR).
Launching
of 12-day “Basic Sign Language training” is set on July 22. Tuition fee is P2,
500; on July 23, DOLE – ZC Office will have “Release of Starter Kits to PWD”
and
on July 17-23, DOLE will also conduct “inventory of private establishments
employing PWD.”
The weeklong NDPR observance is
geared not only in drumbeating public awareness and strengthening involvement
of concerned groups but also serves as a vehicle of information for programs
being implemented by the government agencies and organizations of and for PWDs
that adhere to the promotion of the inherent rights and concerns of PWDs.
The NDPR
week is being commemorated annually every July 17-23 by virtue of Proclamation
No. 1870 (1979), as amended by Proclamation No. 361 (2000) and Administrative
Order No. 35 (2002). It aims primarily to stimulate public awareness on the
issues and problems of disability, thereby encouraging every citizen of the
country to take active responsibility in the upliftment of the economic and social conditions of the
PWD of the society. (PIA9)