PWD

Do you know any Persons With Disabilities? If you do, please share this good news with them and their families.

Once upon a time (sometime in 1992 ) a new law was passed in the Philippines called Republic Act No. 7277, otherwise known as the "Magna Carta for Disabled Persons" and dubbed as an "act providing for the rehabilitaton, self-development and self-reliance of disabled persons and their integration into the mainstream of society and for other purposes."

But how does the law define a Person With Disability?

Here's Section 4 of RA 7277:

Definition of Terms –

For purposes of this Act, these terms are defined as follows:

(a) Disabled Persons are those suffering from restriction of different abilities, as a result of a mental, physical or sensory impairment, to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being;

(b) Impairment is any loss, diminution or aberration of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure of function;

(c) Disability shall mean 1. a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more psychological, physiological or anatomical function of an individual or activities of such individual; 2. a record of such an impairment; or 3. being regarded as having such an impairment;

Last year, this bill was amended and it got a whole new chapter and several sections added where more privileges and incentives for the PWDs were included. It also got a new official name, now called Republic Act No. 9442.

And this year, it looks like the law is finally going to be implemented! More details over at KittyMama's where I learned about all this.