A BICOLANO congressman on Tuesday said establishments and government agencies cannot deny the discounts due persons with disabilities (PWD) even if the authenticity of their identification cards (IDs) cannot be ascertained or confirmed at the time these are presented.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte invoked a new legal opinion by the Department of Justice (DOJ) stating that refusal to extend the 20-percent discount to PWDs simply because the person’s ID could not be verified would constitute violation of Republic Act 10754.
The DOJ has informed the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) about this matter, Villafuerte said.
“Based on the five-page legal opinion issued by the DOJ in January, establishments cannot deny the PWDs their 20 percent discount and 12- percent VAT-free privileges on the ground that the authenticity of the PWDs’ ID cards presented to agencies, restaurants, shops or stores are doubtful because these cannot be ascertained at the time of their presentation by the supposed beneficiaries,” said Villafuerte, who is in his third three-year term as congressman and is running for governor of his province.
In the opinion conveyed to the NCDA, DOJ Undersecretary and officer-in-charge Raul Vasquez stressed that “the denial and withholding of PWD benefits and privileges by reason of unverified PWD card constitutes a violation of the rights of PWDs to avail of the said benefits and privileges as provided for in RA 10754, or the Act Expanding the Benefits and Privileges of PWDs and this law’s IRR (implementing rules and regulations,” Villafuerte said.
The only requirement for PWDs to avail of the privileges under RA 10754 is for them to be Filipino citizens and present the PWD ID cards issued by the local government units or national government offices, Villafuerte said.
According to Vasquez, Section 1 of RA 10754 provides that such privileges are available only to PWD who are Filipino citizens upon their submission of any of the following as proof of his or her entitlement such as a PWD ID issued by the city or municipal mayor or the barangay chairperson of the place where the PWD resides; an ID issued by the Persons with Disability Affairs Office or the City or Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office of the place where he or she resides, the passport of the concerned PWD, or an ID issued by the NCDA.