Facility for PWDs faces threat from sea rise

THE MAIN building of Area 1 Vocational Rehabilitation Center in Dagupan City and what is left of its frontage after it was claimed by Lingayen Gulf in past years GABRIEL CARDINOZA/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

DAGUPAN CITY—A government agency that caters to persons with disability (PWDs) may itself become disabled if the government does not relocate its offices soon.

This is because more than half of what used to be a sprawling compound of  Area 1 Vocational Rehabilitation Center (AVRC 1) in Barangay Bonuan Gueset here has been claimed by the sea.

“The worst was during a storm surge in 2009. Our storeroom, which was attached to the canteen, was swept to the sea,” said Maria Abella, AVRC senior manpower officer.

AVRC 1, which is an attached agency of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), serves PWDs from the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and the Cordillera. It was built in 1962 near the shoreline of Lingayen Gulf.

“Our compound used to be 2.3 hectares. But now, we only have about 1.5 ha,” Abella said.

The wooden buildings scattered in the compound, consisting of training halls, classrooms and dormitories, are battered and dilapidated.

“This is why we can only accommodate 60 people at a time now,” Abella said.

AVRC offers PWDs vocational skills training, such as tailoring, dressmaking, massage therapy, cooking, food and beverage services, and basic computer course.

It also offers courses on Braille, sign language, orientation and mobility for the blind, citizenship training, basic reading, writing and arithmetic, music development, daily living skills, housekeeping, beauty care and hairdressing.

AVRC provides a training allowance of P75 a day to qualified PWDs for a year to help defray their training expenses and other needs.

Abella said that  during typhoon months, students are relocated to a Catholic church in the village and to a public elementary school.

“But on ordinary days, we are here. Our visitors, especially foreigners, are often impressed by the view of  Lingayen Gulf,” Abella said. “Our trainees also gather at the shoreline to watch the sunset or simply enjoy the cold afternoon breeze.”

Abella said that in the past, PWDs held sports events inside the compound during National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week celebrations. This week, PWDs marked the event at the shore.

She said plans to relocate the compound were now being worked out.

A 2-ha area in Barangay Bonuan Binloc, near the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center compound, is available but until now, the DSWD central office is still looking for funds for the relocation, she said.

Abella said the site had been enclosed with barbed wire and had been granted an environmental compliance certificate. Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon