Comelec hires PWDs to prepare ballots for overseas voters

MANILA, Philippines — Thirty people with disabilities (PWDs) have been recruited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to help prepare the official ballots that will be used in the overseas absentee voting, an official said recently.

Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said the PWDs are among the 170 casual employees tapped to place official ballots inside the envelopes that will be sent to various Philippine embassies and consulates worldwide for the May 13 midterm polls. 

“This is the first time that we’re doing this. All of us, especially in government agencies, should include PWDs in working for a better country. They should be able to participate in our democracy,” she noted.

The PWDs include people with autism, cerebral palsy, deaf and mute and deformed or missing limbs, among others.

The 170 casuals will work for 30 days or until the middle of March. They are receiving minimum government wages and provided free lunch and snacks.

Guanzon added that the PWDs are very passionate and meticulous about their work, proving that they can also do what other people without disabilities can do. 

She underscored the need for the Civil Service Commission to make it a policy that a certain percentage of a government agency’s workforce should be comprised of PWDs to give them a good chance in life. 

According to Guanzon, 70 or half of the 140 abled bodies they hired are women as the Comelec observes gender equality.

“Include the PWDs in our society. They need to work not only for the money but also for their socialization and to have friends. It’s very important for human beings,” Guanzon maintained.

There are over 1.8 million migrant Filipinos who registered for the month-long absentee voting which will start on April 12.  

Reelectionist Sen. Sonny Angara said government institutions and the private sector should hire more qualified PWDs amid continued disparities in their employment situation.

In 2013, the Magna Carta for PWDs granted additional privileges, incentives and prohibitions on verbal, non-verbal ridicule and vilification against PWDs.

Angara lamented that gaps and disparities in the job situation of PWDs still remain, as 2017 data from the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) showed that there were a little over 7,000 PWDs employed by the  government.

“More than five years since the enactment of the law, it shows that much work remains to be done in order to narrow the considerable gaps that still exist,” said the lawmaker, who is running under the platform Alagang Angara.

In 2013, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that of the 92.1 million household population in the country, 144,300 persons or 1.57 percent had disability, based on the 2010 Census of Population and Housing (2010 CPH).

Angara pointed out that Republic Act 10524 or An Act Expanding the Positions Reserved for PWDs requires government offices to reserve at least one percent of their total positions to PWDs. Under the law, corporations with more than 100 employees are encouraged to do the same.– With Cecille Suerte Felipe