BAGUIO CITY -- A NATIONAL CAMPAIGN was launched here on Monday for a Philippine ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The new covenant, which was adopted by the UN in 2006, upgrades the civil rights accorded to the world’s disabled people into a universal human right.

Venus Ilagan, immediate past chair of the Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI), a UN lobby group, opened the campaign, citing how the government failed to enforce laws that protect Filipinos with disabilities.

The country had pledged to fill up 5 percent of its labor pool with skilled workers (about 1.7 million of 35.5 million based on a 2005 census) belonging to the people with disabilities sector.

Higher quota

Ilagan said the country’s quota is higher than the quotas of other countries.

But the government could not even hire 1 percent of this potential work force, she said.

Pepito Marao, president of the Katipunan ng Maykapansanan sa Pilipinas Inc. (Kampi), said the government has not been able to fill up its quota.

Ilagan said they have been told that government has hired 5,000 employees from their sector, but this number does not represent the 5 percent hiring quota imposed by local laws involving people with disability.

Ilagan said the government has no updated information on the number of Filipinos with disability, but the sector believes they represent 8.5 million people.

She said about 30 percent of this sector is composed of skilled workers.

Marao said the sector could not demand full compliance because the law merely encourages the hiring of the disabled.

No big deal

“We are also not seeking sanctions [against government or sectors that deal with the disabled]… We don’t want to make this a big deal [on our behalf],” Ilagan said.

She said advocates sometimes mistake the crusade as a fight to help the disabled, when in reality “we want to be independent [and] we want to do things for ourselves.”

Ilagan said the Philippine delegation was vice chair of the country panel that negotiated for the UN covenant.

She said the campaign would be devolved into regional crusades.