“The world worries about disability more than
disabled people do.” Warwick
Davis
By Alex P. Vidal
If we follow the law,
contractors of the old pedestrian overpass in front of a giant mall at the
Iloilo City Diversion Road in Mandurriao district should have been charged in
court for violation of Republic Act 7277 or “An act providing for the rehabilitation,
self-development and self-reliance of disabled persons and their integration
into the mainstream of society and for other purposes.”
For several years
since it was built, the old pedestrian overpass, which has been replaced by a
new one that will be operational this year, did not have elevators.
It’s mind-boggling how
engineers managed to pursue the project without anticipating some loopholes
that would give them legal headache.
The structure was not
friendly to elderly and persons with disabilities (PWD). And nobody cared; not
until a new and better-equipped pedestrian overpass was built early this year
to replace it.
The late House
sectoral Rep. Art Borjal, a many-time Iloilo and Negros visitor, once told us
he would file charges against building owners, public structures and their
contractors who did not follow the law on Republic Act 7277.
“Even hotels and malls
are mandated by law to build a special area for their customers and clients
that are PWDs,” Borjal told us then.
He would have
protested the contractors’ negligence in the old Diversion Road pedestrian
overpass.
BARRIER-FREE
Section 25 on
barrier-free environment of Chapter 6 on accessibility, states that “The State
shall ensure the attainment of a barrier-free environment that will enable
disabled persons to have access in public and private buildings and
establishments and such other places mentioned in Batas Pambansa Bilang 344,
otherwise known as the Accessibility
Law’. The national and local
government shall allocate funds for the provision of architectural or
structural features for disabled persons in government buildings and facilities.”
Section 26 on Mobility
states further that “The State promotes the mobility of disabled persons.
Disabled persons shall be allowed to drive motor vehicles, subject to the rules
and regulations issued by the Land Transportation Office pertinent to the
nature of their disability and the appropriate adaptations or modifications
made on such vehicles; and Section 27 on Access to Public Transport Facilities
states that “The Department of Social Welfare and Development shall develop a
program to assist marginalized disabled persons gain access in the use of
public transport facilities. Such assistance may be in the form of subsidized
transportation fare. The said department shall also allocate such funds as may
be necessary for the effective implementation of the public transport program
for the disabled persons. The Accessibility
Law,’ as amended, shall be made
supplementary to this Act.”
DPWH
In a related
development, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has decided to
put up elevators at the new pedestrian overpass in the same area which would
cost some P20 million.
DPWH Regional Director
Edilberto Tayao said
the new pedestrian overpass
has its footbridge designed for the ease and convenience of PWDs and senior
citizens.
“This is in keeping
with the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons and Batas Pambansa 344,” the
Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Iloilo quoted Tayao as saying over the
weekend.
PIA said Batas
Pambansa 344 seeks to enhance the mobility of PWDs by requiring buildings,
institutions, establishments and public utilities to install facilities and
other devices.
Tayao described the new
overpass, 50.235 meters long and three meters wide and costing P19,302, 321 as “PWD-friendly
and the only biggest project so far that the agency has built for the sector.”
REDUCE
The structure intends
to reduce traffic congestion in the area so that mall goers do not have to use
the roads in crossing, according to the DPWH.
Tayao further said: “The
city government is encouraging the private sector to contribute to the
development and maintenance of the project, through public-private partnership.”
We are happy that the
DPWH has finally realized the need and importance of building elevators in the
new pedestrian overpass.
The new structure connects
the giant mall to the other side of the road where the state-of-the-art Injap
Tower is located.
It’s not yet too late
to correct the past mistake. As the saying goes, “better late than never.”
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