The city government recently created the Local Disability Council in the city and provided for its composition and functions.
Under Executive Order No. 83, series of 2024 issued by Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong, the Baguio City Council for Persons with Disability shall be chaired by the City Mayor with members including the Chairperson of the City Council Committee on Persons with Disability, head of the Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO), City Administrator, City Social Welfare and Development Officer, Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR), City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer, City Planning and Development Officer, Public Employment and Services Officer, City Health Officer, City Engineer, City Building Official, City Public Information Officer, City Local Government Operations Officer, Principal of the Baguio City SPED Center, City Schools Superintendent, District Engineer of the Baguio City District Engineering Office, and the regional directors of the Cordillera office of the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of Social Welfare and Development Office, the Department of Labor and Employment, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Health, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Information and Communication Technology, the Commission on Human Rights; the City Prosecutor, City Director of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) wardens of the Baguio City Jail male and female dormitories, president of the Baguio Women with Disability Organization, representative of the National Anti-Poverty Commission and Center Administrator of St. John Paul II Learning Center, Inc.
The council shall act as a forum in the formulation of recommendations, policies and resolutions for the adoption and fervent application of the departments and offices at the local level; develop, establish and maintain a databank on the implementation of programs each of the respective agencies or offices they represent; formulate mechanisms for the resolution of issues related to persons with disability, including, but not limited to, submission of recommendations to concerned government agencies or offices and private individuals or groups; ensure the compliance of government agencies or offices, private establishments and institutions on national and local laws and policies, international commitments and similar directives; evaluate and monitor the implementation of the various policies and programs for persons with disability at the local level; recommend to the City Mayor necessary actions to achieve the foregoing and other functions relating to the promotion and protection of the welfare of persons with disability.
The committee shall meet on a quarterly basis to discuss matters in relation to the implementation, enforcement and monitoring of policies and programs for persons with disability towards an accessible and inclusive city.
The staff of the Persons with Disability Affairs Office shall act as the secretariat of the council, responsible for the issuance of notices of meetings, logistical requirements, taking minutes of meetings and other reportorial duties. By Dexter A. See