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By JOHNNA VILLAVIRAY GIOLAGON  NEW BATAAN, Compostela Valley—As heart-wrenching as the devastation, is the survivors will to rise from the rubbles of what was once their homes. “BABANGON TAYO! NEW BATAAN” is prominently painted on a mud-stained wall near the municipal hall. Their needs  are  so simple and they can even afford to share in

By IMEE CHARLEE DELAVIN and MARVIC MASAGCA THE streets of shopping haven Divisoria in Manila are again jammed as the Christmas season among Catholics in the country starts Sunday and the shopping frenzy escalates. After all, Divisoria has a wide range of goods to offer—from clothes, footwear, jewelry to toys and school and office supplies,

By RALPH ANGELO TY THE Elsie Gaches Village (EGV) in Muntinlupa is the country’s only comprehensive residential facility for people with mental and learning disabilities. But it only accepts patients who are homeless or without families. But even with the policy in place, the facility operated by the Department of Social Welfare and Development is

Text and photos by EIMOR SANTOS Students his age would be waking up before sunrise and rushing to school at 7 a.m., but 17-year-old Paolo Lorenzo de Jesus starts class any time he wants. In their home in Pandi, Bulacan, De Jesus reads his books when he is in the mood and takes recess and

Text and video by EIMOR SANTOS SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—Two years ago, a big change happened in this small village. It transformed into a special place for persons with disabilities (PWDs). In 2010 Barangay Sindalan launched the Alternative Learning System for Differently Abled Persons (ALS-DAP) to educate PWDs in the village and nearby places. ALS-DAP uses

By JOHNNA VILLAVIRAY GIOLAGON
BAGA-IR Panaggulan was on his boat that sunny day of Sept. 8, 2008, fishing in the Pulangi River in Bukidnon in Mindanao when he saw a boatload of soldiers armed for combat. Baga-ir, then 28, hurriedly paddled to shore. He asked his wife Zaida to pack their clothes and get ready to run.

WHEN panic and confusion brought by massive floodings and destruction set in, government units sometimes disregard procedure and standards to ensure the safety of persons with disabilities. This video discusses the special needs of PWDs during emergencies.

For the deaf community in the Philippines, there has been a lack of action from the government in providing for their need and right to information, communication and education, among others. Bills pending in Congress hope to address this.

By MA. KATRINA ENRIQUEZ
IN the age of the World Wide Web, accessibility does not merely refer to physical spaces. Web designers Rene Orense and Julius Serrano talk about the principles, techniques and features that make websites and online content accessible to persons with disabilities.

THE UAAP men’s basketball games has ended while the NBA regular season finally opened on Oct. 30. In all these events, a group of basketball players watch on, cheering their favorite teams even as the itch to play grows. But competitions and chances for them to play are scarce, and not everyone knows about their existence. Compared to the more “popular” forms of basketball, wheelchair basketball in the Philippines is in a slump.

By KARLOS MANLUPIG DAVAO CITY—The frail looking Italian priest wears an indigenous bandana called tubaw and is known for speaking gently regardless of whom he is talking to: Peasants, indigenous people, or government forces in the plains and hills of North Cotabato.

By VERA Files The country's young interior designers have taken up the challenge of creating living spaces for persons with disabilities, and devised rooms that are PWD-friendly.

By KHRYSTA IMPERIAL RARA
ENVIRONMENTAL and animal welfare groups seeking to rehabilitate and return 25 dolphins to the Solomon Islands say they will appeal the court decision allowing the re-exportation of the animals to Singapore.

Four years ago, Congress passed a law granting privileges to persons with disabilities. But certain sectors questioned the law, which is why it has not been fully implemented.

By KHRYSTA IMPERIAL RARA
ENVIRONMENT and animal welfare groups filed yesterday a petition against the Philippine government to prevent the issuance of a permit to re-export to Singapore 25 dolphins presently being kept and trained at the Ocean Adventure Park in Subic.

By PABLO A. TARIMAN
IN her short but fruitful life, filmmaker Marilou Diaz Abaya (1955-2012) lived and breathed music which was also an integral part of all her film output.

By VERA Files WHEN it comes to disaster preparedness, Filipinos can learn valuable lessons from a seemingly unlikely group: Persons with disabilities (PWDs) at the Tahanang Walang Hagdanan compound in Cainta, Rizal.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra—The filing of certificates of candidacy for local positions last week signals the approaching election season, and for inmates at the Abra Provincial Jail (APJ), this could mean one thing: Freedom.

By PABLO A. TARIMAN
AURAEUS Solito’s “Busong” -- which was premiered last year at the Cannes International Film Festival’s Directors Fortnight section -- continued its winning streak by running away with the grand prize in the recently concluded National Geographic All Roads Film Festival in Washington D.C.

BANGUED, Abra – The whistleblower who has filed a complaint of plunder against two members of one of Abra’s most powerful clans now faces arrest after they turned the tables on her and sued her for falsification of documents.

INTERIOR and Local Government Undersecretary Rico E. Puno and three others visited in May the main facility of an Israel-based firm that has been blacklisted by the Indian defense ministry early this year for engaging in corrupt practices.

CONFLICTING interests of labor-sending countries like Indonesia and the Philippines and of labor-receiving countries like Malaysia and Thailand partly explain why it will likely take years for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to make the regional instrument to promote and protect the rights of labor migrants a reality.

SHORTLY after arriving in Kuala Lumpur early this year to work as a domestic worker, Marissa Santos (not her real name) began complaining of severe stomach pains. Her Malaysian employer promptly returned Santos to her recruiter, also a Malaysian. But instead of getting her medical help, the recruiter subjected Santos to slave-like treatment at his spa.

By PABLO A. TARIMAN
IT must have been a case of déjà vu when Filipino filmmaker Brillante Mendoza and Nora Aunor (along with Lovi Poe and Mercedes Cabral) received a five-minute standing ovation after the screening of “Thy Womb” in the 69th Venice Film Festival.

ILOILO is a province of equanimity. Ilonggos, as they are called, are known to be mild-mannered and peace loving. They are a tamed lot. From this lot one of the country’s outstanding policemen this year has been chosen. Ironically, one who had to struggle with lupus, a disease which in Latin means “wolf” because of the patient’s bouts of wildness and irrationality.

By VERA Files PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino made history by appointing Lourdes Sereno as the country’s first female Chief Justice, but he also broke tradition by setting aside the seniority rule and naming to the highest judicial post one of the Court’s youngest associate justices, who also happens to be his college schoolmate.

PHILIPPINE Ambassador to China Sonia Brady suffered a stroke in Beijing this week. “Amb. Brady suffered a stroke and is hospitalized where her condition is being monitored closely,” Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario confirmed Brady’s condition in a text message to VERA Files.

COTABATO CITY— The Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) now faces the difficult, if not almost impossible, task of weeding out the multiple registrants from last July’s general voters’ registration because the Commission on Election failed to provide for the automatic deletion of such registrants.

THE late Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo had always made known that his personal advocacies included looking after the welfare of people with disabilities (PWDs). “This is personal to me,” he said in his keynote address at the launching last April 18 of the Fully Abled Nation, a multisectoral initiative to encourage PWDs to register and vote in the 2013 midterm elections. “I am no stranger to PWDs.”