Bus companies operating in public transport terminals in Baguio City were requested to provide wheelchairs as mobility aid for persons with disability, senior citizens, and medical patients.
The city council recently approved Resolution 465-2023, which states most PWDs, senior citizens, and cancer and other patients, among others, use public buses as their mode of transportation when they travel whether it is related to health, business, or for other concerns.
“Providing wheelchairs does not only enhance mobility but also reduce pressure sores for PWDs, elderly, and cancer patients whose disability, old age, and medical conditions serve as a barrier to their mobility,” the resolution stated.
The measure, introduced by Councilors Arthur Allad-iw, Isabelo Cosalan Jr., and Fred Bagbagen and signed on Aug. 1, cited Republic Act 7277 or the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons and Batas Pambansa 344, or An Act to Enhance the Mobility of Disabled Persons by Requiring Certain Buildings, Institutions, Establishments, and Public Utilities to Install Facilities and Other Devices.
RA 7277 and BP 344, the resolution stated, have institutionalized the promotion for the monitoring of PWDs and access in the use of public transport facilities.
The measure added the treaty of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to which Philippines is a signatory provides that “States parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure PWDs access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communication, including information and communications technologies and system, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and rural areas.” – Hanna C. Lacsamana
