First-ever PWD center in BARMM now operational

COTABATO CITY —A center has been established in the Bangsamoro region, the first of its kind, to support Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) from around the city and nearby provinces.

It will provide social rehabilitation and capacity-building programs to help PWDs become competitively productive. 

The PWD Center in Barangay Rosary Heights 10, Cotabato City, was originally the Center for the Handicapped under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-12. It was turned over to the Bangsamoro government following the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2019.

As a result of this transition, the offices of all line agencies under Region 12 were relocated to Koronadal City in South Cotabato province after Cotabato City was designated the regional center of BARMM.

Raissa Jajurie, a lawyer and the social services minister of BARMM, told reporters on Monday, April 28, that the newly inaugurated PWD center is managed by experts from their ministry, with Social Welfare Officer III Bryan Abdullah leading the team.

The facility, which opened its doors to PWD clients last week, underwent five months of extensive rehabilitation and engineering work, costing P14.4 million.

Jajurie said the newly rehabilitated two-story PWD Center features rooms for vocational and social rehabilitation workshops, as well as spaces for computer literacy, cooking, and massage therapy training sessions.

“We want to make sure that this facility shall be a model for other centers we plan to establish for other vulnerable sectors in the Bangsamoro region,” Jajurie said.

Babay Pendi Vargas, a 54-year-old resident of Barangay Tamontaka in Cotabato City, shared that she enrolled her two children, both PWDs, at the center. She is optimistic that they will learn vocational skills that will help them become competitively productive, just like other individuals around them.

 “They each have corresponding monetary allowances from the center for daily transportation expenses and for other needs while undergoing training there,” Vargas said.

Abdullah said the PWD Center is equipped with lifts and mobility support structures in the restrooms and other facilities to ensure the safety and convenience of clients with physical disabilities as they move around.