House bill seeks monthly allowance for PWDs

A bill seeking a monthly allowance for persons with disabilities (PWDs) has been filed in the House of Representatives.

House Bill 8223 proposes the creation of a Disability Support Allowance Program under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that will give an initial allowance of P2,000 per month to PWDs.

The proposed Disability Support Allowance Program will be implemented in three phases.

During the first three years of implementation, the allowance will be given to children with disabilities, adults with "significant disabilities who are facing the highest barriers and disability-related costs," and PWDs who are recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps,) Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens, and other similar programs.

During the second phase, which will be implemented in the next three years, PWDs with no or low level income, as well as PWDs who "face disability-related extra costs which negatively affects adequate standard of living" will be covered.

During the third phase, which will be implemented after six years, all PWDs will be part of the program.

"Disabilities often come with challenges to accessing education, health care, and economic opportunities," said the bill's author, Camarines Sur second district Rep. Luis Raymund "Lray" Villafuerte.

Villafuerte added that the amount will be "indexed to inflation to preserve its impact on the standards of living and participation of people with disabilities," Villafuerte explained. 

He also said that, based on the 2016 National Disability Prevalence Survey, PWDs make up 12% of the country’s adult population.

Anyone who pretends to be a PWD or who helps someone pretend to be a PWD in order to claim the PWD allowance will be fined from P25,000 to P50,000 for the first offense and P50,000 to P100,000 for subsequent offenses, according to the bill. —Tina Panganiban-Perez/ VAL, GMA Integrated News