By
Dominic I. Sanchez
ZAMBOANGA
CITY - “Except for a few, majority of the businessmen in the
city are complying with the building specifications provided for in the
Accessibility Law for the persons with disabilities (PWDs),” said Department of
Public Works and Highways (DPWH)architect Jun Obsequio.
Obsequio,
in a media forum held Thursday at the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) here
said that establishments such as churches, malls and business establishments
are now sensitive to the needs of the PWDs.
Republic
Act 344, or the Accessibility Law requires every business establishment to have
ramps for those who are on wheelchair and to place universal accessibility
signage indicating that the said establishment is giving due courtesy and
priority to PWDs.
However,
Obsequio said, there are still places in the city that do not meet these
requirements. He added that the DPWH would create an inter-agency inspection
team composed of representatives from the Department of Interior and Local
Government (DILG), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the
PWD sector.
Meanwhile,
Cynthia Julian, superintendent of the DSWD’s Area Vocational Rehabilitation
Center said that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) should also be included
in the monitoring team.
“The
BIR grants tax refunds or incentives to businesses that are found to be
complying with building specifications in the accessibility law, hence they
should be included in the monitoring team,” said Julian.
Obsequio
appealed to the business owners to really take compliance with this law
seriously. “We have to be sensitive of the needs of the PWDs, and also think
about karma. If we are unfortunate and become PWDs in the future, what we did –
our compliance with the accessibility law – would have been done for ourselves
also,” he said. (PIA9)