Magna Carta For Disabled Persons
Despite the fact that our society has come a long way in accepting and treating persons with disabilities better, judgement and discrimination still exists. It is still inevitable to get judged by others for what you are, and who you are. What makes this even worse is the fact that people often see your flaws first instead of seeing who you really are as a person. This particular issue which is present in the society today, is one of the things that persons with disabilities face. In fact, persons with disabilities are just the same with the able-bodied individuals; they are also human beings just like us. However, some people still find it hard to fully accept and embrace the disabilities that some people have, and make them feel inferior. These disabilities are rather seen as weaknesses, that often leads to discrimination, social exclusion, and unfair judgement and treatment.
As stated in the article that is linked above, persons with disabilities still face a lot of issues aside from discrimination, social exclusion, and unfair judgement and treatment. Other challenges that PWDs are facing include issues in health and education; unemployment; and limited accessibility to transportation and services. We all know that persons with disabilities are already having a hard time and the aforementioned challenges that they face on a daily basis only make it harder for them.
With that being said, the Philippine Government implemented Republic Act No. 7277. Republic Act No. 7277 is an act for the persons with disabilities which is also known and cited as the ‘Magna Carta for Disabled Persons.’ This act covers all disabled persons in the society, and is known to provide rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance of disabled persons and their integration into the mainstream of society. This act also provided principles for the rights and privileges of disabled persons, and some of these include giving full support to the improvement of the total well-being of disabled persons and enabling them to live freely and as independently as possible, which includes equal opportunity for employment; access to education, health, auxiliary social services, telecommunications, public transportation facilities; mobility; and political and civil rights. The act also mentioned that the State shall exert all efforts to remove all social, cultural, economic, environmental and attitudinal barriers that are prejudicial to disabled persons.
In simpler words, the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons was implemented to expand and strengthen the benefits and privileges of persons with disabilities. However, even with this act, PWDs are still treated unfairly up to this day. If even a republic act cannot change the society’s mindset and behavior towards PWDs, then no one else is to be blamed but the individuals in the society themselves. As human beings, we must all accept each other for who and what we are, and lend a hand to those who are in need of assistance. Each one of us, either able-bodied or disabled, are all equally capable of making a difference in the world.
