MMDA closes wheelchair ramp for improvements

The EDSA Busway Philam Station ramp, now covered with tarpaulin, will be closed for two months to give way for necessary improvements. —Inquirer photo/Grig C. Montegrande

MANILA, Philippines — Less than a week after it was opened to the public, the overly steep wheelchair ramp at the Edsa Busway Philam station in Quezon City has been temporarily shut down for “improvements,” after it gained notoriety for being not accessible to persons with disabilities (PWDs).

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Don Artes said the contractor of the ramp has pledged to install either a wheelchair platform or a vertical lift to move PWD passengers from the footbridge to the busway platform.

READ: Drawing flak for steep Edsa ramp, MMDA personnel to assist PWDs

“We will also improve the wheelchair ramp by pouring cement to reduce the slope. From the [13-millimeter] slope, it would go down to 11 mm, which is very [close] to the recommended 10 mm,” Artes said during a news forum on Saturday.

The MMDA chair noted that the improvements would be at no cost to the government, and would all be shouldered by the private contractor.

READ: Unfriendly to PWDs

The ramp will be reopened to the public when the overall improvements are finished, which would take one to two months.

The MMDA blamed “height and space limitations” of Metro Rail Transit Line 3, which is connected to the Edsa Busway, which prevented the contractor from building a less steep wheelchair ramp.

Hard decision

“It’s a hard decision between putting that ramp or building none at all,” Artes said. “It was not a perfect design, especially for those using wheelchairs, but it will still help senior citizens, pregnant women, and other persons with disability instead of taking the stairs.”

“But it’s good that we are criticized, so we can address the issue,” he added.

Installing a lift was also not part of the budget of the project, with the MMDA noting that “based on our observations, almost none of the passengers of the Edsa carousel are wheelchair users.”

Artes said they would also deploy personnel to assist disabled persons who might struggle using the ramp, which “would not be too steep” for those who walk on it.

The controversial ramp at Philam was part of the two new stations of the Edsa Busway (the other being Kamuning station) opened to the public on July 15.

The MMDA and the Department of Transportation even touted the Philam station to “provide accessibility and convenience to passengers, especially senior citizens and persons with disabilities.”

But commuters, especially PWDs and architects, noted that the wheelchair ramp was too steep and violated the laws on PWD accessibility. Ironically, the controversy was stirred just during the observance of National Disability Rights Week from July 17 to 23.