A PERSON with disability (PWD) is among the first batch of high school graduates who are beneficiaries of the government’s PantawidPamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). And she graduated with honors. Seventeen-year-old Edy Rose Tayab, born with no feet and left hand, finished ninth in her class in a school in Bukidnon, the Department of Social Welfare
By JAKE SORIANO DESPITE a drop in the number of smokers, the Philippines still needs to adopt “more drastic measures” to further reduce tobacco use, said an anti-smoking advocate and cancer survivor. Emer Rojas, who uses an electrolarynx and is described as a walking graphic health warning against smoking, said measures such as raising the
Text and photos by ARTHA KIRA PAREDES LOS ANGELES, California—Before participating in the nine-day 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, the 52-member Filipino delegation will be welcomed and celebrated in Santa Clarita City. Santa Clarita is among the 100 host towns where Special Olympic athletes will be staying from July 21 to 24. It will
THE National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) says it fully supports the international call to firmly include the human rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the post-2015 development agenda. This comes after a team of United Nations (UN) experts last month appealed to UN negotiators and member states to ensure that no one
By JAKE SORIANO THEY make the country proud but pay a high price, literally. The 36 athletes from the Philippines who will compete at the Special Olympics in July will each have to fork around $1,500 (P66,000) for a round trip ticket to Los Angeles. “We need help,” said Special Olympics Philippines Executive Director Kaye
[metaslider id=31393] By VERA Files EARLY morning Sunday, the Bangcailans, a family of five, rushed to reach the Freedom Park in Davao City to join for the first time this year’s Happy Walk. They did it for Shawnn Noel, their two-year-old son with Down Syndrome. A yearly event to highlight the National Down Syndrome Consciousness Month
THE Department of Health (DOH) has suspended the implementation of a blanket licensing requirement for all massage therapists in the country while working out a system of accreditation with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The licensing order will be deferred for three years, or until December 2017. If it were enforced according
By JAKE SORIANO IN December last year, blind massage therapists from Zamboanga City traveled all the way to Cagayan de Oro to undergo licensing exams. They took the nearly 500-km journey because their jobs were on the line. But Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) struck, and they were told to go home. No exams meant no licenses.
Text and photos by JAKE SORIANO THE message of the estimated 12,000 “angels with wings” dancing to the beat of Taylor Swift’s pop hit “Shake It Off” was a simple one: awareness, acceptance and inclusion of persons with autism in society. “What we want is for the Philippines to be autism-OK,” said Autism Society of
FOLLOWING complaints, budget carrier Cebu Pacific now aims to be more sensitive to the needs of passengers with disabilities. At the company’s request, National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) Acting Executive Director Carmen Zubiagalast week led in the orientation of flight cabin staff and reservation officers of the airline. “Discussed during the seminar workshops were