The Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) together with their families, friends and supporters are accelerating efforts to demand for the implementation of two laws that have direct impact on their everyday living. On July 19, 2010 the group files their formal complaints for the violation of two existing laws that affects PWDs namely RA9442 and the BP344 at the Commission on Human Rights.

In 2006, Republic Act 9442 an amendment to Republic Act 7277, known as the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities, mandated all drug stores and pharmacies to provide twenty (20%) discounts for every purchase of medicines similar to that of the senior citizens.  In May 20, 2009, the Department of Health issued Administrative Order No. 2009 – 0011 which provides the guidelines for the full implementation of the law by the drugstores. However till this date a group of drug stores led by the leading multi-branch drugstore and the small player drugstore members of the Drug Store Association of the Philippines (DSAP) persist to defy this law.  Further, DSAP filed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to stop the implementation of the discount but they failed to get the court’s affirmative decision.  The National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), the national government agency mandated to coordinate the activities of all agencies, whether public or private, concerning disability issues and concerns conducted several meetings with the concerned drugstores in the presence of several PWD representatives to hasten the implementation of the law but still the drugstores arrogantly refuse to implement the 20% discount. A group of concerned PWDs from various organizations formed the “20% Discount on Medicine Monitoring Team to find solutions to this problem.

Emer Rojas, the most outstanding PWD awardee of DRM UP-PGH this year and president of the New Vois Ass’n. of the Phils Inc. (NVAP). Said, “We are deeply affected by this flagrant violation of the law. The discount means a lot to us since most of our members are cancer victims and spends so much on maintenance medicine and medical expenses. No one is above the law and RA9442 must now be implemented”. NVAP members are voice-impaired PWDs who lost their vocal cords due to cancer.

Ranil Sorongan, the executive director of the Autism Society of the Phils. stressed that members of their organization complain that they are being deprived of their right to discounted medicines. “Medicines are vital to the day to day existence of PWDs including children with AD/HD, autism, seizure disorder and other intellectual disabilities who rely on their daily maintenance to stabilize their condition”.  he added.

Another issue that is vital to the sector is the flagrant violation of the 27-year old law, Batas Pambansa 344 or the Accessibility Law of 1983.  The Footbridge Accessibility Team will also submit a formal complaint to CHR particularly the foot bridges in Metro Manila. The action is the preliminary move in taking action against government agencies and private companies responsible for the construction of these publicly accessible structures that clearly symbolize the persistent defiance of the nearly three-decade law.

Lauro Purcil, Kampi Board of Governor leads this group of concerned PWDs in filing a formal complaint to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in support to the recent actions of the FDA versus erring drugstores.

The 32^nd National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) Week (July 17-23) with the theme, “Sa Istrukturang Accessible, Lahat ay Able” would be the beginning of the series of actions of the PWD sector to raise public awareness and claim their rights as embodied in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which the country ratified on April 15, 2008.