City officials recently requested all bus companies and all public transport terminals in the city to provide wheelchairs as mobility aid for persons with disabilities (PWDs), senior citizens, medical patients, and others in need of such a facility.
Under Resolution No. 465, series of 2023, city legislators stated that providing wheelchairs does not only enhance mobility but also reduces pressure sores for PWDs, elderly and cancer and medical patients, who by reasons of their disabilities, old age and medical conditions, serve as barriers to their mobility.
Under the treaty United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to which the Philippines is a signatory, it provides that State parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to PWDs access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communication, including information and communication technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas.
The said treaty further provide that State parties shall take measures to ensure personal mobility with the greatest possible independence for PWDs by facilitating access by PWDs to quality mobility ai.
Republic Act (RA) 7277 otherwise known as the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons and Batas Pambansa Bilang 344, or the Accessibility Law, also institutionalize the promotion for the monitoring of PWDs and access in the use of public transport facilities.
The council claimed that most PWDs, senior citizens, and cancer and medical patients use public transport as their mode of mobility when they travel whether related to health, business and/or other concerns.
Copies of the approved resolution will be furnished to all concerned bus companies and public transport terminals in the city for their information, guidance, ready reference and further needed action.
