Binibigyang-halaga ng estado sa lipunan ang mga taong may kapansanan

ni Atty. Persida Rueda-Acosta - @Magtanong Kay Attorney | December 12, 2021

May mga tao talagang ipinanganak sa mundo na mayroong natatanging kalagayan kompara sa iba. Isa sa mga ito ay ang mga ipinanganak na mayroong kapansanan.

Ngunit ang pagkakaroon ng natatanging kalagayan ay magsilbi sanang hamon sa buhay na kayang lampasan sa pagsisikap, lingap at pagmamahal ng mga kaanak, lipunan at ng estado.

Ang may kapansanan ay binibigyang-halaga ng estado sa lipunan upang maitaas ang kanilang moral at bigyan sila ng kaginhawaan sa kanilang pang-araw-araw na pagharap sa hamon ng buhay sa kabila ng kanilang naging kapansanan. Ang pagbibigay sa kanila ng karapatan ay pagpapakita ng pagkalinga ng estado upang maiangat ang kanilang pangkabuhayan kasabay ng kanilang pagharap sa hamon ng buhay.

Malinaw na nakasaad ang mga sumusunod na karapatan sa ilalim ng Republic Act No. 7277, o mas kilala sa titulong Magna Carta for Disabled Persons na inamyendahan ng Republic Act No. 9442:

“SEC. 32. Persons with disability shall be entitled to the following:

(a) At least twenty percent (20%) discount from all establishments relative to the utilization of all services in hotels and similar lodging establishments; restaurants and recreation centers for the exclusive use or enjoyment of persons with disability;

(b) A minimum of twenty percent (20%) discount on admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses, concert halls, circuses, carnivals and other similar places of culture, leisure and amusement for the exclusive use of enjoyment of persons with disability;

(c) At least twenty percent (20%) discount for the purchase of medicines in all drugstores for the exclusive use or enjoyment of persons with disability;

(d) At least twenty percent (20%) discount on medical and dental services including diagnostic and laboratory fees such as, but not limited to, x-rays, computerized tomography scans and blood tests, in all government facilities, subject to guidelines to be issued by the Department of Health (DOH), in coordination with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHILHEALTH);

(e) At least twenty percent (20%) discount on medical and dental services including diagnostic and laboratory fees, and professional fees of attending doctors in all private hospitals and medical facilities, in accordance with the rules and regulations to be issued by the DOH, in coordination with the PHILHEALTH;

(f) At least twenty percent (20%) discount on fare for domestic air and sea travel for the exclusive use or enjoyment of persons with disability;

(g) At least twenty percent (20%) discount in public railways, skyways and bus fare for the exclusive use and enjoyment of person with disability; xxx”

Sa mga nabanggit na karapatan, malinaw na nakasaad na ito ay para lamang sa eksklusibong gamit ng taong may kapansanan kaya kinakailangan ng patunay kung ito ay gagamitin ng taong pinagkalooban ng mga nasabing benepisyo, matapos niyang maipakita ang kanyang pagkakakilanlan, tulad ng mga sumusunod:

(1) An identification card issued by the city or municipal mayor or the barangay captain of the place where the persons with disability resides;

(2) The passport of the persons with disability concerned; or

(3) Transportation discount fare Identification Card (ID) issued by the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP).

Bukod sa mga nabanggit na prebilehiyong makakuha ng diskuwento, ang mga taong may kapansanan ay marapat ding mabigyan ng express lane o priority lane sa mga establisimyento at opisina ng gobyerno. Katulad ng karamihan, ang taong itinuturing na “Person with Disability” (PWD) ay may karapatan ding mabigyan ng suporta na makakuha ng scholarship grants para makatapos ng kaniyang pag-aaral kung ang nasabing PWD ay makapasa sa mga rekisitong pinaiiral ng magbibigay ng benepisyong ito.

Bilang pagkilala naman ng estado sa mga establisimyento na magbibigay ng mga prebilehiyong nabanggit sa PWD, mabibigyan naman ang mga nabanggit ng insentibo, tulad ng tax deductions base sa “net cost” ng mga naibentang “goods” o naibigay na serbisyo. Kinakailangan lamang na kasali ang nasabing “claimed tax deduction net of value-added tax” sa gross sales receipts at matapos makapagbigay ng tamang dokumentasyon sa ilalim ng probisyon ng National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC).

Bukod pa rito ang mga taong nangangalaga sa mga tinaguriang PWDs ay mayroon ding insentibo, katulad ng mga sumusunod:

“(a) Persons with disability shall be treated as dependents under the Section 35 (A) of the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended and as such, individual taxpayers caring for them shall be accorded the privileges granted by the code insofar as having dependents under the same section are concerned; and

(b) Individuals or nongovernmental institutions establishing homes, residential communities or retirement villages solely to suit the needs and requirements of persons with disability shall be accorded the following:

(i) Realty tax holiday for the first five years of operation; and

(ii) Priority in the building and/or maintenance of provincial or municipal roads leading to the aforesaid home, residential community or retirement village.”