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The National Council on Disability Affairs is training people with disabilities to qualify for online employment.
Manila, Philippines – The National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) Install free public Wi-Fi nationwide to make online work more accessible to people with disabilities.
Speaking at the launch of the 39th National Prevention and Rehabilitation Week for Disabilities, NCDA president Carmen Zubiaga said the organization is now working to help persons with disabilities gain employment that allows them to work from home.
“Iyan ang isa sa mga tugon natin sa mga May kapansanan na nahihirapan magbiyahe… Iyong online job puwede nilang gawin sa kanilang tahanan,” Zubiaga said on Monday, July 17th.
(This is one of our responses to disabled people who struggle to commute to work; online jobs allow disabled people to work from home).
The NCDA provides training to help people with disabilities become qualified for online jobs, including roles such as virtual assistants, encoders and transcriptionists.
“We are not hiring PWDs in Davao, we are not hiring PWDs in Davao,” said the Davao Digital Association of PWDs, which runs a digital job market in Davao. Zubiaga said.
(There are already many PWDs who are employed. Like in Davao, there is the Davao Digital Association for People with Disabilities, whose members have online jobs and earn a decent income.)
Zubiaga said the NCDA is coordinating with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on the effort.
Senate Bill 1277, or the Free Internet Access in Public Places Bill, is still awaiting final congressional approval before being submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte for his signature.
The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is also one of the government’s priorities. The bill aims to address the country’s slow internet. People with disabilities who want to seize opportunities online.
Aside from online jobs, persons with disabilities can also apply for grants from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to set up their own businesses. (Read: Japanese language teachers improve life skills for special education graduates in Bohol
The agency’s Bureau of Special Issues Workers’ Comprehensive Program (BWSC) is implementing the DOLE Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Program (DILEEP) targeting workers in vulnerable sectors.
Through DILEEP, approximately 14,000 people with disabilities across the country are working at massage centers and Sari-sari BWSC provides raw materials and equipment worth up to P20,000 to help vulnerable workers start their small businesses. (read: Discounts and VAT exemptions now available for people with disabilities
Database for people with disabilities
While there are several projects targeting this area, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said there is still a need to establish a database of persons with disabilities.
“DICT is assisting the NCDA and DSWD in gathering information on how many Filipinos are disabled. Global estimates suggest that people with disabilities make up 15 percent of the population. But in the Philippines, the exact figure is yet to be determined,” Social Welfare Undersecretary Marou Turalde Jarabe said in Filipino.
Also, even if there are estimates of the number of people with disabilities in a country, governments need to evaluate the data so that they can identify the appropriate approach for each disability.
Turalde Jarabe said he would convene a meeting of various agencies on July 31 and would do everything in his power to address the industry’s concerns.
“The Philippine Development Plan stipulates that government agencies must implement a convergence approach when it comes to the needs of the vulnerable and marginalized,” she said.
The latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) based on the 2010 census put the number of persons with disabilities at 1.4 million.
Zubiaga said the Department of Health (DOH) is currently working with local government units (LGUs) to ensure that their lists of persons with disabilities are uploaded online. (read: LGU empowers people with autism through employment
As of now, there are 72,000 PWDs on the online list, but Zubiaga said this may only apply to one local government area as 50,000 PWDs have been identified in Quezon City alone. – Rappler.com
