HOME AWAY FROM HOME

by Renee Cuisia and Marian Plaza

Twenty five years ago, Rebecca Bonus needed an artificial leg. She could easily request for one in Bataan where she lived, but it would have to be delivered all the way from Rizal, from a place called Tahanan Walang Hagdanan (TWH). Here, wheelchairs and other similar needs for persons with disabilities (PWDs) are produced by none other than PWDs themselves.

As the name suggests, TWH is filled with accessible pathways and ramps instead of stairs, and it is home to orthopedic PWDs in wheelchairs and crutches. The home employs over 350 people, both PWDs and able-bodied people alike, who work in various livelihood programs such as metal craft, medicine packaging, wood craft, sewing, farming, and administrative work. Most of them live in the home’s six dormitories.

When Bonus first learned about the place through the order she put in for her leg, she made the decision to move out of her family’s home in Bataan to join the TWH community.

“Ayoko maging pabigat sa pamilya ko,” she says. “[Sa pamilya] nakakakain ka naman eh, bibilhan ka nila ng damit, ipapasyal ka. Kaya lang, hanggang kailan? Kasi kahit mga kapatid mo yan, pag wala ka nang trabaho, sasabihin sayo ‘pabigat ka nalang.’”

Since then, Bonus has been a staple at the home, working in medicine packaging as one of its supervisors. Snipping sheets and rows of tin-wrapped medicine, she shares her realization of independence. “Di naman ako totally nakakatulong sa [pamilya ko] pero may time na nakakapagbigay naman ako [ng pera]. Mas gusto ko yung ginagastos ko, kinikita ko.”

Working with dignity

The workplace is one of the many public spaces that have yet to be fully accessible to PWDs. Which is why for Mich Fernandez, a visitor coordinator at TWH, the home’s main thrust is its provision of job opportunities for PWDs — minus the barriers existing outside the home.

After losing her leg in a spinal injury, Rebecca Bonus decided to move from Bataan to TWH in Rizal where she now works as supervisor of the medicine packaging department.

“Mahirap para sa amin pag nasa labas na [ng TWH] maghanap ng trabaho. Kasi una yung environment, hindi siya accessible para sa mga wheelchair. At transportation, hirap din kami. Yung mga companies o individuals na pwede namin aplayan, minsan nadidiscriminate kami at most of the time yung mga facility hindi akma sa mga naka-wheelchair so instead na mag try, bumabalik kami sa Tahanan kasi ito yung very comfortable para sa amin.”

Fernandez adds, “Yun yung malaking factor para sa mga PWD, yung makakuha kami ng work na may dignity.”

Through the livelihood programs, the orthopedically challenged such as Bonus and Fernandez are able to earn for themselves and for their families.

Tahanan Walang Hagdanan offers livelihood programs for the orthopedically challenged, namely metal craft, medicine packaging, wood craft, and sewing.

The metal craft department is in charge of making wheelchairs, crutches, canes, and the like. There are nine essential steps in making a wheelchair. Each chair begins with metal cutting, then it will go under the grinder before it can undergo bending. Each piece will then be grooved before it can be assembled along with the other pieces. These will be welded and aligned before it can be attached to the rest of the mechanisms such as the wheelchair’s housing. Specialized wheelchairs take more time and require more skill. Wheelchairs used by basketball athletes for example require three wheels instead of one and has to be lighter than the usual.

TWH bids for projects that the programs can produce such as some tables and chairs for schools under the Department of Education. Besides the special orders, the home also produces various toys and household items made out of wood for the place’s sustainability. These items are usually sold online, in bazaars, and in a mall stall.

TWH also partners with a few pharmaceutical companies for their biggest program: medicine packaging. As of the moment, the program caters to two of the biggest names in pharmaceutical business and both of the groups assigned dutifully and systematically pack the medicine tablets in individual containers — packing over 40,000 tablets a day.

Eco bags are one of the most produced items in the sewing department of TWH. With around 20 people in the department, each person thoroughly does their assigned tasks, all together producing hundreds of bags per company.

Out of reach

Because of its ideal living conditions, TWH has become a haven for its residents and employees. It has livelihood programs, PWD-friendly amenities, dormitories, and an undiscriminating environment. However, TWH is a private institution, without any other existing branch at that. Not only are its services limited to a few, it is also out of reach for the many other PWDs located far from the Manila area.

“Sa dami ng nag-aaply dito sa tahanan, hindi namin ma-accommodate lahat,” says Fernandez. The home receives at least one application per day but they can only take in so much, and this usually depends on whether extra workforce is needed for a project. Most of the applicants, Fernandez adds, are from faraway provinces. “Sa pagpili, cino-consider namin yung distance kung saan siya nanggagaling and yung work capability niya.”

“Hindi lang emotional [stability] ang nage-gain namin kung ‘di pati yung dignity,” says TWH receptionist Mich Fernandez. “Parang minsan pa nga mas angat pa kami sa abled na kumpleto nga pero…’di sila ganun ka-determined mag trabaho.”

Since the Freedom Technology Wheelchair Foundation Inc. in Misamis Oriental closed down a few years ago, TWH is now the only place in the country that produces specialized wheelchairs. For National Council for Disability Affairs (NCDA) Director Carmen R. Zubiaga, an orthopedic PWD herself, this is an alarming concern. “Mahirap kasi, what if you’re from the province? You’ll have to make do with what you have.”

And what they mostly have are standard hospital wheelchairs, which are not fit and comfortable for everyday use, according to Zubiaga.

A field study done by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies in 2011 reveals that PWDs in rural areas were most likely to be poor. Additionally, most of the PWDs surveyed did not reach secondary or tertiary levels of education, leaving them to be less employed than their urban counterparts by 3%.

This means that if a PWD from a faraway province or community is in need of comprehensive job opportunities or a specialized wheelchair, there is only one option: “You’ll have to go all the way to [the Manila area]” says Zubiaga, despite the high costs and obvious physical difficulties travelling entails.

YELLOW: Loss of one or both arms/hands (26.79%)

GREEN: Loss of one or both legs/feet (31.99%)

RED: Quadriplegic (41.23%)

Philippine Statistics Authority 2010 census

The right to accessibility

At the national level, it cannot be denied that basic social services for many PWDs are still far fetched.

There have been attempts to create more apt wheelchairs and amenities for PWDs but Zubiaga says none have been successful. “Yung mga dinedeisgn nila, ina-adopt lang nila sa ibang countries, which is not applicable to local PWDs.”

The director admits that government efforts to provide basic PWD services are currently at a standstill. The NCDA, she clarifies, can only exact change through policy. “Nirerefer namin sila sa mga service providers like DSWD, DOLE, TESDA, Department of Health, Social Welfare Office, usually doon sa mga LGU,” Zubiaga explains. So while there are many legal parameters such as the Accessibility Law (Batas Pambansa Blg. 344) and the Magna Carta for PWDs (Republic Act No. 7277), there is no guarantee of their full implementation.

“Kinailangan pa namin magsimula ng reward program para maka-comply yung LGUs sa pagiging accessible ng infrastructures,” shares Zubiaga. In 2014, NCDA partnered with DILG to start an initiative that rewards a Seal of Good Governance with prize money to LGUs with infrastructures compliant to the Accessibility Law. “Maraming ‘di pa rin sumusunod,” admits the director.

While the Magna Carta for for PWDs states that the government “shall exert all efforts to remove all social, cultural, economic, environmental and attitudinal barriers that are prejudicial to disabled persons” it also acknowledges the value of private institutions such as TWH. Section 2.d. states that it “recognizes the role of the private sector in promoting the welfare of disabled persons and shall encourage partnership in programs that address their needs and concerns.”

Philippine Statistics Authority 2010 census

Establishing private-public partnerships is a common government practice in delivering basic social services to its constituents. It has long been practiced in fields such as education and healthcare. However, when the task of providing shifts more and more towards the private sector, and less from the public, there is a tendency for these services to be inaccessible.

This tendency is exemplified in TWH. Because it is the only institution of its kind, not all PWDs will be able to benefit from its services, especially those from faraway communities. As the high costs of travelling limits them, the TWH administration also has to limit their intake by filtering the most deserving through a location and capacity based criteria.

Through its livelihood program, the home also has to become a business and earn enough for self-sustainment.

Uphill battle

Zubiaga says government efforts should be redirected and start at the barangay level.

“Sige may wheelchair na siya, [pero] may kalsada pa, may bahay pa, may buildings pa, may mga pintuan pa na nagsisilbing physical barriers sa kanya.” Barangay captains should learn how to be responsive when it comes to the needs of their citizens, especially the PWDs. “Dapat yung barangay mismo ay may programa para sa mga persons with disabilities,” says Zubiaga. “It’s their duty to comply, ‘ke may reward o wala.”

A number of cities and municipalities comply with the criteria laid out for PWDs, but achieving the goal of full accessibility still feels like an uphill battle. Various programs are continuously being laid out by the NCDA says Zubiaga. “We are still campaigning that all local government units should have PDAO, or Persons with Disabilities Affairs Office, kasi sila yung mag-iimplement ng mga programs at the local level.”

Empowering PWDs themselves is also important according to Zubiaga. “Tinuturuan na namin sila mag-reklamo, na ipa-Ombudsman nila kapag hindi nagcocomply ang gobyerno, ang LGU.”

In the meantime, it may be enough to know that the ideal PWD environment exists, albeit exclusively, in a place that Bonus, Fernandez, and a hundred others call home.