Welfare support program for Cotabato PWDs expanded

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The provincial government of Cotabato has expanded its Community-Based Rehabilitation Program (CBR) for constituents with physical disabilities in all of the 17 towns in the province and in its capital, Kidapawan City.

Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza told reporters here on Sunday that coordinators of their CBR Program for PWDs, among them barangay health workers, nurses and midwives from local government units, gathered from June 4 to 7 and planned the expansion of their activities, meant to benefit all persons with disabilities, or PWDs, in the local communities.

“Our goal is to help PWDs in the province to have normal lives and be productive too in whatever limited ways they are capable of,” Mendoza, who is chairperson of the multi-sector Regional Development Council 12, said.

Participants to last week’s workshop of coordinators for CBR Program for PWDs were quoted in radio reports here on Saturday as saying that they discussed during the activity the need to maximize their service thrusts for PWDs such as health and wellness initiatives, prompt response to rehabilitation needs, determining physical disabilities of potential program beneficiaries and essential interventions to improve their mobility and productivity.

Mendoza said that their CBR Program for PWDs covers the Muslim, Christian and non-Moro indigenous groups in all parts of Cotabato, which is in Region 12, but has eight newly-created Moro-dominated towns that are under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

"This program also covers PWDs who are identified with either the Moro National Liberation Front, or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that have separate peace agreements with the national government," Mendoza said.