Archive - PWD Vote

By AMIEL CAGAYAN and EMMANUEL CAGAYAN MARBEL, South Cotabato – There were no assigned accessible polling places (APPs) in South Cotabato during the May 9 polls, but persons with disabilities (PWDs) who voted here said their experience was better than in previous elections. In lieu of APPs were express lanes, where PWD voters, as well

By LUCILLE SODIPE CEBU City – Election volunteers Krugger Tabada and Leah Recia, both persons with disabilities (PWDs), were startled by the high voter turnout in a polling place here last May 9. They were expecting some 50 PWDs to vote in the emergency accessible polling place (EAPP) here at the Mabolo Elementary School, but

By LUCILLE SODIPE CEBU City — Just hours away from the opening of the May 9 elections, teachers assigned at a polling place here were informed they need to instantly set up an emergency accessible polling place (EAPP). In this video, find out how they still managed to assist persons with disabilities (PWDs) exercise their

By VERA Files CALLING emergency accessible polling places (EAPPs) “a mere band-aid solution,” a poll watchdog has scored the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for failing to do enough to accommodate vulnerable voters. The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) said many persons with disabilities (PWDs), senior citizens, pregnant women and indigenous communities were disenfranchised because

By VERA FILES HALFWAY into the day of Monday’s elections, problems among voters with disabilities have been piling up from across the country. Initial reports as of noon show many persons with disabilities (PWDs) having a hard time exercising their right to vote, betraying a lack of preparation by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), despite

By FREDERIC LORENZO UPI, Maguindanao – Sixty-year-old Herminio Lacave will walk two kilometers to cast his vote tomorrow. Born with a smaller left leg, Lacave calls on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to make it easy for persons with disabilities (PWDs) to vote. “Bilang isang PWD, nanawagan ako sa Comelec na bigyan kami ng isang

ON May 9, persons with disabilities (PWDs), senior citizens and heavily pregnant women may choose to vote in emergency accessible polling places (EAPPs) in case their precinct is located on the higher floors of voting centers. EAPPs are makeshift tents located at the ground floor of multi-level voting centers, intended to make the voting process easier

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL THE Commission on Elections has unveiled a new plan to make voting more accessible for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens: emergency accessible polling places (EAPPs) in the form of makeshift tents. This after the poll body has canceled voting in malls due to practical and legal restrictions. (See Disability

By VERLIE Q. RETULIN FIRST it was mall voting. Now it’s voter verification through headphones for people who have trouble seeing that won’t see the light of day on May 9. The Commission on Elections confirmed Thursday, four days before the election, that the headphones connected to vote-counting machines (VCM) will no longer be used by

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL PRESIDENTIAL race frontrunner Rodrigo Duterte, already facing a plunder case filed by Sen. Antonio Trillanes, has been slapped with yet another complaint, this time by disabillity groups and advocates. Disability advocates Ranilo Sorongon and Liza Martinez charged the Davao City mayor before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Friday with violating the

A DECEMBER 2015 survey by the Social Weather Stations showed that three in five registered voters think voting in malls would be easier for senior citizens and PWDs, given the current state of voting centers in the country. A total of 1,200 registered voters were interviewed on whether or not they agree that voting centers be

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL WHEN polling places open on May 9, none of them would be in malls, as had been planned and hailed months before the elections.   On April 27, poll chief Andres Bautista announced that mall voting, a pilot project of his administration, will no longer push through. “I personally worked on

Getting it Right: Interacting with PWDs is a package of eight video tutorials that introduce viewers to disability issues and provide tips on how to interact with persons with disabilities.  (Go directly to Vimeo to view and share the album.) Produced by VERA Files (verafiles.org) primarily for a Filipino audience, the videos feature PWDs and disability

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS FOR the information of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte who laughed at Persons with Disabilities while regaling his supporters in Aklan last week, there’s a law that prohibits ridicule, vilification, both verbal and non-verbal, against PWDs which can make them lose their self- esteem. Public ridicule is “making fun or

THE disability sector breathed a sigh of relief when news broke in late March that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III had finally signed into law the bill exempting persons with disabilities (PWDs) from the value-added tax (VAT). For advocates, the enactment of Republic Act 10754 had been one nerve-wracking wait. Congress had already passed the

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL AS the five presidential candidates tried to outsmart each other in the first PiliPinas Debates held in Cagayan de Oro last month, one community watching it on television or online simply couldn’t relate: the Filipino Deaf. The Commission on Elections and GMA News Inc., its media partner for the historic debate,

By JAKE SORIANO OF the 54 million Filipinos registered to vote in the upcoming presidential elections, 318,013 have disabilities. The interactive map below shows the 10 provinces in the Philippines with the most number of registered voters with disabilities.

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL A former lawmaker is facing criticism for his insensitive remarks on the alleged special treatment given to persons with disabilities (PWDs) in verifying their votes through the voice prompt feature of vote counting machines (VCMs). Former Biliran representative Glenn Chong questioned the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for allowing people with visual