Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Tuesday (June 17) said the agency is planning to collaborate with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the private transportation sector for a wide-scale information campaign on disability inclusion and proper handling of persons with disabilities using public utility vehicles (PUVs).
“We should educate the operators of these transpo companies na in the event that they are dealt with certain circumstances, how to handle [these cases],” the DSWD chief told reporters during the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) press briefing at the Malacañang Palace.
Aside from the information campaign, Secretary Gatchalian said the DSWD’s plan to mainstream disability-friendly vehicles so that more persons with disabilities will have safe means of mobility without experiencing discrimination.
This is in response to the viral video of a person with disability who was mobbed in a public utility bus last June 13.
“Ang layunin namin talaga, ang instruction ng ating Pangulo [Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.] is to make public transport accessible to all, most especially our people with disabilities,” Secretary Gatchalian pointed out.
Also on Tuesday, the DSWD chief spearheaded an inspection and test run of additional electric buses that will be turned over to the beneficiaries of the Persons with Disabilities – Electric Transportation Service (PWD-ETS) Project under agency’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).
The PWD-ETS is a pilot project that aims to provide livelihood grants to persons with disabilities who are members of SLP associations to purchase electric vehicles that are disability-friendly.
This will enable the beneficiaries to earn income while helping other persons with disabilities to safely access modes of transportation, according to Secretary Gatchalian.
The members of the SLPAs are the ones who will manage and operate the service units in coordination with the Global Electric Transport (GET) Philippines Incorporated, the chosen service provider for the e-buses.
Secretary Gatchalian said the agency is currently coordinating with the DOTr to expand the project to mainstream the e-buses for commercial use.
“Our people with disabilities, we should not put barriers to what they can do or where they can ride, where they can go – this country embraces disabilities and yung pagkakaiba natin,” the DSWD chief stressed. (AKDL)