Council promises legal aid to disabled sector

The City Council has pledged legal intervention in response to the call of the differently-abled sector for the need to adopt universal standards of accessibility in Cebu City.

Councilor Edgardo Labella, chairman of the city council’s committee on laws, said that the council will study the concerns raised by the city’s Accessibility Monitoring Committee to properly come up with the appropriate legal intervention.

Aside from the concerns raised, the council also wants to know why the ordinance, which had allocated P300,000 for projects for the differently-abled sector, was amended in 2005 and no longer specified the amount the city will allocate for the sector.

The Accessibility Monitoring Committee, is the body that protects the rights of differently-abled members of the city, recently disclosed that the establishments and buildings in Cebu City are not disabled-friendly.

Gigi Ruiz, an officer of the committee and herself a part of the differently-abled sector, said that many establishments and buildings lack the facilities or interior structures that properly accommodate those that are differently-abled. The fact is, she said, even those that have the facilities have not exactly met the standards of a barrier-free environment.

She pointed out that some ramps built supposedly to make easier for differently-abled individuals to traverse certain heights are too steep and have become a hindrance to easy navigation because of humps on the ramps themselves.

She explained that while the humps are meant to prevent slippage, these are also making it difficult for the wheelchair to move because even a small protrusion on a surface actually requires more effort to push the wheelchair forward.

She also said many restrooms are too small for wheelchairs and do not have fixtures like handlebars.

Ruiz said that universal accessibility is crucial to the city’s aim to become the prime tourism destination in the Philippines.

Joy Ylanan, the city’s assistant building official, said that 80 percent of the buildings constructed since 2001 have already complied with the necessary access features.

Ruiz said that this lack of facilities can be a drawback in fulfilling the city’s tourism objective because tourists, physically capable or differently-abled, always seek comfort above anything else.

“If design works for people with disabilities, it will surely work for everybody else…if you give us access, we are pretty sure we can give as much to the nation as those non-disabled,” Ruiz said.  — Joeberth M. Ocao/BRP