More than a billion people, or 15 percent of the world’s total population, are living with some form of disability.
In the Philippines, results of the National Disability Prevalence Survey showed that in 2016, around 12 percent of Filipinos aged 15 and older experienced severe disability. Yet even until today, PWDs are still often stereotyped, stigmatized, and discriminated against.
PWDs face a number of societal barriers, which include lack of access to opportunities to quality education and employment. In recent years, however, positive movement toward inclusivity in the workplace has become more evident.
In line with the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) Week, the Philippine Business and Disability Network (PBDN), together with its members, partners, and sponsors, held “Working Beyond Barriers” – a two-day online conference from July 20-21, 2022. The event shed some light about the opportunities and challenges in disability inclusion in the workplace, and also tackled current and potential policies and practices that further promote participation and representation of PWDs.
As a country-level platform, PBDN is a group for and by businesses that works toward more inclusive and barrier-free workplaces for Persons with Disability. It is currently a 22-member network, led by its current Steering Committee, which are JPMorgan Chase & Co., IBM, PayPal, Asurion, and Citihub.
“We Connect companies to Person with Disability talents; we Capacitate companies to promote and build disability-inclusive workplaces; and we Collaborate with different stakeholders to improve the workforce participation of Persons with Disability,” said Pixie Javier-Gutierrez, representing JPMorgan Chase & Co., the present chair of the PBDN Steering Committee.
For many PWDs, finding and sustaining work is a challenge.
Jürgen Menze, a Disability Inclusion Officer of International Labour Organization Global Business and Disability Network (ILO GBDN), of which the PBDN is a member of as one of the 30+ National Business and Disability Networks (NBDN) around the world, said that “business leaders are essential to change the perceptions about Persons with Disability when it comes to the employment because, too often, misconceptions about what a Person with Disability can and cannot do at work are still prevalent.”
Liza Sales, a Person with Orthopedic Disability, recalled: “After college, I looked for a job in line with my coursework: computer design and programming. Every time I passed an exam and training, a lot of companies wouldn’t hire me because of their preconceived notion that I wasn’t fit for the job.”
This discrimination did not stop Liza, who became a federation president of her barangay for six years, an active champion for Persons with Disability and was even cited for her bravery. Now, Liza works for a pharmaceutical company.
Susan Scott-Parker, founder of Business Disability Forum UK, the first NBDN globally, stressed that reasonable adjustment is one of the keys into building a community without barriers.
In the Philippines, there are laws and policies present to safeguard the rights of Persons with Disability such as the Magna Carta For Persons with Disabilities and the Accessibility Law.
Apart from the laws mentioned, Krizelle Ramos, chief of the Programs Management Division of the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), emphasized the importance of Equal Opportunity for Employment provision under RA No. 10524, which endeavors to eliminate discrimination against and increase opportunities for PWDs.
“There is a move to change the word ‘encourage,, because right now only the government is mandated to have the 1 percent of the plantilla positions to be allotted for Persons with Disabilities. For private corporations the term used by the law is just ‘encourage,’ so hopefully that is passed,” Ramos said.
“We have a collective responsibility. Upscaling inclusivity of the workplace for Persons with Disability is a goal toward the right direction,” added Karen Trayvilla, Director IV of DOLE – Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns.
Launched in January 2020, the PBDN aims to strengthen the group’s advocacy in the following years.
“If we make our companies better, we also have a better society. If we better our society, we better our world. We start doing right when we treat Persons with Disability fairly,” said Grant Javier, Executive Director of the Project Inclusion Network.
The “Working Beyond Barriers” Conference is one of the first steps in fulfilling PBDN’s mission to strengthen connections through networking and innovation.
Learn how to become a PBDN member company through emailing them at pbdn@projectinclusion.ph