Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – The application for identification cards of persons with disability (PWDs) in Quezon City would be more stringent following reports of abuse, the local government said on Thursday.
According to Mayor Joy Belmonte, she has already signed Memorandum Circular No. 16, which would require people whose disabilities are not “visibly apparent” to be checked by doctors and medical staffers from one of the city-owned hospitals.
“These guidelines aim to help prevent fraud in the issuance and use of PWD IDs while ensuring that legitimate PWDs can continue to obtain their IDs in an expeditious manner,” Belmonte said in a statement.
“Hindi natin puwedeng hayaang maabuso ang batas ng mga tao na nais makalamang sa kapwa [We cannot allow people, who want to gain advantage over other people, to abuse the law],” she added.
Belmonte’s remarks and memorandum came after Quezon City’s local government announced on Wednesday that distribution of PWD IDs are temporarily suspended after reports that six members of a family each obtained such cards, apparently to take advantage of the discounts for PWDs.
The family supposedly bribed an officer who was in charge of disbursing the cards, for a price of P2,000 per ID.
New guidelines also state that the Persons with Disabilities Affairs Office (PDAO) will review multiple applications from a single household or from the same address, especially in cases where disabilities are not visibly apparent, to prevent the said incident from happening again.
New applicants showing an apparent disability would only need to show their latest medical certificate or abstract, which describes their disability, and proof that they are Quezon City residents.
But for those whose disability is not apparent, PDAO would schedule an appointment with the PWD applicant and a specialist for the disability mentioned. The IDs would only be issued once the doctors confirm the disability.
“The PDAO will schedule the applicant at one of our hospitals and have them undergo a personal assessment by the appropriate specialist medical doctor,” Belmonte said.
“Aside from the medical abstract/certificate of verification, PWDs must also submit proof that they are residents of Quezon City, such as a government ID with address or barangay certificate of residency, and 2×2 ID picture,” the Quezon City mayor said.
Indigents with disabilities may also undergo a free examination in a public, city-owned hospital, provided they present a certificate of indigency from their respective barangays.