SENATORIAL aspirant and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez expressed support for the position made by leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation that seeks to empower people with disabilities.
Romualdez, whose advocacy includes providing support for PWDs, lauded the 2015 Leaders’ Declaration on the 23rd Apec Leaders’ Summit in including PWDs for “building inclusive economies and a better world.”
“We welcome the stand of Apec to enhance economic empowerment of persons with disabilities and encourage further collaboration among member economies in promoting inclusive development,” said Romualdez.
The Leyte lawmaker praised Apec leaders for recognizing PWDs capability for a prosperous Asia-Pacific community. “I’m really pleased that PWDs were not just mentioned but given focus in a couple of items in the Apec Leaders’ Declaration,” he said.
The 2015 Leaders’ Declaration underscored the importance of empowering different sectors of society including the PWDs with the ability to contribute to and benefit from future growth.
“We recognize the significance of enabling the full participation of all sectors and segments of our society, especially women, youth, people with disabilities, indigenous peoples, low-income groups, and micro, small and medium enterprises, to achieving inclusive growth,” stated the Apec Leaders’ Declaration.
It added that there should be increased collaboration among business groups, international and regional organizations, private sector, local government executives, civil society, academia, women, youth MSMEs, PWDs and industry experts for constructive dialogues that will allow leaders to find solutions to the challenges facing the world.
For his part, Romualdez underscored the need for continuous efforts in taking care of PWDs. “Ituloy lang po natin ang malasakit para sa kanila.”
The lawmaker has been pushing for the enactment of his proposed bill granting PWDs an exemption from value added tax on certain goods and services the same privilege accorded to senior citizens.
House bill 1039 also known as “An Act Exempting Persons with Disability from the Value-Added Tax on Certain Goods and Services” has been approved on third and final reading in the Senate since December 2014
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed there were over 1.4 million persons with disability based on the 2010 Census of Population and Housing. In year 2000, the recorded figure of PWDs was at 935,551.