The United Nations recognizes every December 3 as International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which seeks to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities.

The Philippines was one of 175 ratifying members of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Adopted in 2006, the convention affirms persons with disabilities are entitled to all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

According to the convention, “All categories of rights apply to persons with disabilities and identifies areas where adaptations have to be made for persons with disabilities to effectively exercise their rights and areas where their rights have been violated, and where protection of rights must be reinforced.”

Former President Corazon Aquino signed RA 7277, or the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, which provided guidelines for the granting of rights and privileges for disabled persons.

More recently, in 2016, then-Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez authored House Bill 1039, an amendment to RA 7277, granting an exemption to the government-mandated 12 percent value-added tax for persons with disabilities.

Meanwhile, the Philippines Permanent Mission to the United Nations is among the co-sponsors of a formal ceremony commemorating the day, alongside their counterparts from Ecuador, South Korea, Brazil, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Singapore./WDJ