Crippled, Not Broken: a study on the ability of disabled people to enjoy legal rights in Quezon City, Philippines

Abstract

Disabled persons are those persons that are unfortunate enough to receive mental or physical impairments that serve as a social barrier in living a normal life. Even so, they are part of the community and must have the ability to participate in the social world. To do so, laws have been passed to help disabled people adjust to the social world. The Magna Carta of Disabled Persons was passed with the intent of recognizing and protecting the rights as well as support Persons with Disabilities. However, not all are receiving the legal rights the law explicitly laid out for them. This research intends to answer how as well as measure the extent and degree to which legal rights are being denied to disabled people. To meet this objective, the research set out to gather data from 267 respondents in Quezon City using a survey that measures the effect of poverty on the acquisition of legal rights as well as the effectivity of the laws that intends to help disabled people. As a result of the methods used, the research found little effect of poverty on how legal rights are denied to disabled persons. Also, it seems that the problem lies with how the local government is addressing disability. Recommendations include applying direct aid to disabled people with regards to mobility such as the new public vehicles introduced by the Department of Transportation and Communication and Marikina Local Government which is more effective than the 20% discount given to disabled persons.