Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

/! RECEIVED io)
3 DATEL 4am

Quezon City
*, times Sapo
Eighteenth Congress
Second Regular Session
~. 7180
HOUSE BILLNO._

Introduced by Representative MA. LOURDES T. ARROYO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a
pandemic on 12 March 2020. At present, COVID-19 has already affected more than 5.5
million individuals worldwide. As a strategy to “flatten the curve” and to buy healthcare
systems some time to prepare and respond to the possible increase in cases, various
governments imposed varying degrees and iterations of community quarantines.

In the case of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte declared an Enhanced
Community Quarantine (ECQ) for Metro Manila and Laguna (and eventually the whole of
Luzon) on 14 March 2020'. The said measure naturally disproportionately affected poor
households, whose income eamers are usually day laborers in the informal sector. To address
this and enhance the overall capacity of the government to respond to the COVID-19 crisis,
the Philippine Congress passed Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
Under the said law, the government was mandated to provide social protection and economic
assistance to 18 million households classified as poor.

The Bayanihan Social Amelioration Program (SAP) guidelines indicate that persons
with disabilities are among the sectors vulnerable to the socio-economic impact of the ECQ
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 12% of Filipinos aged 15 and older or
around 12 million individuals based on the 2015 Census already had severe disabilities in
2016. Meanwhile, the 2010 Census recorded a total of 1.44 million Filipinos with disabilities.

Persons with disabilities, unlike those without disabilities, are constrained by their
physical, mental, and/or psychosocial impairments; inaccessible living spaces and
communities; and the social stigma of having disabilities. Studies have shown that even
before the implementation of the ECQ/MECQ, Filipinos with disabilities usually lack formal
schooling, and are most likely to be jobless, or underemployed.” All these factors make the
quality of life of persons with disabilities immediately more challenging compared to those

* orignaly designed to last until 14 April 2020, the ECA was extended until 15 May 2020, Starting 26 May 2020, Metro Manila Laguna,
and Cebu City were put under Modified ECO.

2 aghon, Adrian D., and Christian D. Mina, 2017. Schoo! Partpation of Children with Disability: The Case of San Remigio and Mondaue
City, Cebu, Philippines, Discussion Paper, Quezon City: Philppine Institute for Development Studies, Disparties in educational attainment
were observed amongst persons with disabilities and those without dsabilties and between males and females with disabilities.

Mina, Christian D. 2013. Employment of Persons with Disabilties (PWDs) in the Philppines: The Case of Metro Manila and Rosario,
‘Batangas. Discussion Paper, Makati City: Philippine Institute for Development Studies. Persons with disabilities were found to be less
tkely looking for jobs because they lacked the qualifying degrees and their families discouraged them from doing so.



without disabilities. Compounded by poverty and other sociopolitical factors like gender,
persons with disabilities face multiple exclusions.

Sadly, disability is not accounted for in existing anti-poverty measures of the
government. This is reflected in the lack of targeted programs for the sector even within the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). For example, the conditional cash
transfer program of the government or the 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) only
records 30,223 persons with disabilities in their current active household beneficiaries. There
is a great disparity between this number and the almost 320,000 persons with disabilities
identified in the agency’s National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction
(NHTS-PR) in 2015, with the NHTS-PR figure already being way below the Disability
Prevalence Survey, which puts the estimate of persons with disabilities at 12% nationwide.

In the case of the SAP guidelines’, despite mentioning persons with disabilities as
eligible beneficiaries, the guidelines do not have specific provisions that prioritize persons
with disabilities, or alternatively, families or households that comprise persons with
disabilities, in terms of targeting. For instance, requirements such as a PWD identification
card, or a certificate of suspension of work for a person with a disability or disabilities,
already disqualifies a significant number of persons with disabilities or households that
comprise persons with disabilities who are unable to present the aforementioned documents.
In addition, no procedure was put in place to allow persons with disabilities or households
with persons with disabilities to obtain the documents needed to qualify as cligible
beneficiaries during the COVID-19 crisis.

As a result, persons with disabilities who did not meet the criteria according to the
stipulated provisions and who were not provided with a practical way to acquire documents
that would enable them to meet the requirements in order to comply with the strict
qualifications and requirements for the SAP were left without any emergency support amidst
the COVID-19 crisis despite their inability to meet basic needs or provide for regular
expenses associated with basic care for persons with disabilities.

Similarly, although persons with disabilities were identified as eligible beneficiaries
of the Social Amelioration Program, a significant number of persons with disabilities did not
receive the benefits that should have been accorded to them since the benefits of the SAP
were distributed on a per household basis, rather than a per person basis with regards to
persons with disabilities. For instance, a household comprising a person with a disability or
disabilities, that also happens to include another person who is employed, is immediately
disqualified from receiving their portion of the SAP intended for the person with a disability
or disabilities, under the same guidelines. The type of profiling that was applied to the
distribution of portions of the SAP in this regard did not take into account the direct and
indirect costs of the ECQ and the implications of having a PWD as a member of the
houschold (i.¢. the cost of transportation for medical needs that increased because public
transportation was suspended during ECQ/MECQ).

Hence, members of the PWD community who are undisputedly identified as a
‘vulnerable sector of the population and eligible beneficiaries of the SAP, as well as the
potential members of their families or households who may act on their behalf to ensure that

5 signed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Budget and
Management, Department ofthe Interior and Local Government, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Agriculture and
Department of Finance,


they receive the care they need and deserve, have essentially been excluded from being able
to obtain the much needed support and assistance intended for persons with disabilities from
their fair share of the SAP.

The State is mandated by international treaties and local laws to help alleviate the
living conditions of persons with disabilities, especially during the period of the COVID-19
pandemic. Therefore, this Bill seeks to provide emergency support to persons with
disabilities, as well as families caring for persons with disabilities who shoulder necessary
disability-related costs, for a period of one year from July 2020, in order to help persons with
diabilites and families caring for persons with disabilties as part of the government's COVID-
19 crisis response.

In view of the foregoing the passing of this bill is earnestly sought.

Ne. beef Coop
MA. LOURDES T. arnovg/


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

Eighteenth Congress
Second Regular Session

House BILL No._/28°

Introduced by Representative MA. LOURDES T. ARROYO

AN ACT TO PROVIDE EMERGENCY HEALTH GRANT TO PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS, AND
PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “COVID-19 Emergency Health
Grant for Persons with Disabilities Act.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - The implementation of the COVID-19 emergency
universal health grant for persons with disabilities shall be guided by the following
principles:

a. Persons with disabilities are constrained by their physical, mental, and/or
psychosocial impairments; inaccessible living spaces and communities; and the social
stigma of having disabilities;

b. The 1987 Constitution recognizes the role of social minorities including persons with
disabilities in nation building and it is further declared that the State shall provide
social justice in all phases of national development and value the dignity of every
human person;

c. Persons with disabilities have inalienable rights as other persons without disabilities
as enshrined in the Magna Carta of Persons with Disabilities Act, Accessibi Law,
Accessible Polling Places Law, other local policies, and international conventions
such as the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;

d. It shall be the responsibility of the State to ensure that persons with disabilities are
afforded the same opportunities and privileges available to all Filipinos, especially in
terms of equal access to public services and social protection measures;

€. The Bayanihan to Heal as One Act established the basis for the creation of a social
amelioration program for people severely affected by COVID-19 related community
quarantines and lockdowns in the whole country.



f. The emergency health grant for persons with disabilities during the COVID 19 Crisis,
is intended to supplement earlier social protection measures implemented by the
government in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

SECTION 3. Purposes and Objectives. ~The purposes and objectives of this Act are:

(a) To provide targeted financial assistance called “emergency disability health grants”
(EDH grant) to persons with disabilities to help cover disability related costs
exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and under the “new normal”.

(b) The emergency health grant to persons with disabilities during the COVID 19 Crisis,
shall be given to all Filipinos with disabilities registered with the Philippine Statistics
Authority, National Council for Disability Affairs, Department of Social Welfare and
Development, and the Persons with Disability Affairs Offices!) Persons with
Disabilities Affairs Focal Person (PDAOs/PDAFP) and City or Municipal Social
Welfare Office (C/MSWO) regardless of age and socio-economic status. The “grant”
is equivalent to Seven Hundred Fifty Pesos (Php750.00)* to be given as an annual
lump sum beginning from the effectivity of this act.

SECTION 4. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, these terms are defined as
follows:

a. Persons with Disabilities - as those suffering from restriction or different abilities, as a
result of a mental, physical or sensory impairment, to perform an activity in the
manner or within the range considered normal for a human being as described in the
Magna Carta on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RA. No. 7277) and are
classified under seven (7) categories based on the type of disability. Under the
implementing rules of R.A. No. 94425 these categories are as follows:

Psychosocial and behavioral disabilities;
Chronic illnesses with disabilities;
Learning (cognitive or intellectual) disabilities;
Mental disabilities;

Visual or seeing disabilities;

Orthopedic or moving disabilities; and
Communication disabilities.

Dayaene

b. Social Amelioration Program (SAP) - social protection measure intended to help low
income families for two months in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as reflected
in the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. Sectors vulnerable to the socio-economic
impact of the COVID-19 related quarantines and lockdowns such as persons with
disabilities are qualified for the SAP as long as they are poor.

“The grant amount is based on the annual health grant glven to 4Ps/ Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries per
Republic Act 11310
5 An Act Amending RA 7277, otherwise known 3s the "Magna Carta for Disabled Persons”


c. Emergency Health Grant - cash assistance given to persons with disabilities to assist
with disability related costs during the COVID-19 crisis

d. Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPWD) - non-government organizations
and/or civil society groups made up of a majority of persons with disabilities and
representing the interests of the sector of persons with disabilities.

ce. Emergency Health Grant Beneficiary Database - a comprehensive database that will
be created for the purpose of this act. The list of beneficiaries will initially be based
on the pre-existing databases from the LGUs and the national government.

SECTION 5. Coverage. - All Persons with Disabilities, as verified and certified by the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the National Council on
Disability Affairs (NCDA) shall be covered by the provisions of this Act. The eligible PWD
shall be entitled a monthly health grant from the DSWD amounting to Seven Hundred Fifty
Pesos (Php750.00) to augment his/her daily subsistence during the COVID-19 crisis, subject
to existing government auditing rules and regulations; Provided, that the monthly health grant
may be waived if the person with disability is capable of supporting his/her own self or
his/her family as certified by the DSWD Field Office concerned.

SECTION 6. Details of the Grant

(a) Cash Transfer- The grant will follow the cash transfer mechanism. The DSWD is
mandated to be the lead agency in the implementation of this act. The agency, with its
attached agency, the NCDA, and other agencies involved in the implementation as
well as the local government units, the DSWD must ensure that persons with
disabilities will get immediate, secure and direct access to the cash grant. Provided
that the DSWD, through this Act, will coordinate with each agency to facilitate
practical delivery mechanisms such as through online banking and/or mobile
payments done by institutions duly accredited by the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas
(BSP). For those areas which are unable to access these payment platforms, the
DSWD must work with the DILG and LGU, through the PDAOs/PDAFPs or the
C/MSWOs in doing the offsite payouts.

(b) Emergency Health Grant Database - The Emergency Health Grant will be based on
a new database that cach agency will create for the purpose of this act. The list of
beneficiaries will be based on the pre-existing databases of the agencies. The new
databases will be subjected to a validation process that will be undertaken by each
agency. Provided that the DSWD, through this Act, will coordinate with each agency
to facilitate the use of a validation system that aligns with DSWD’s payout
mechanisms such as through online banking and/or mobile payments that can easily
generate payrolls in shareable formats.


The agencies will share with the DSWD their Emergency Health Grant databases as
soon as they are created. The contractor for the validation process of agencies should
promptly inform the agencies and the DSWD of the generation of the payrolls for
each agency.

(c) Safeguard against exclusion - All persons with disabilities are automatically
included in this act. Each agency will be responsible for reaching out to persons with
disabilities in their record for the first payout. Each agency will ensure that all means
of communication (i.e. house visit, phone call, text, email, chat applications, etc.) are
exhausted within a reasonable timeframe before any name is excluded from their list.

(@ Data privacy - Data collection under this law will solely be for the purpose of
generating and maintaining the EDH grant database. The DSWD, through NCDA,
shall be the sole custodian of the said database. The DSWD, through the NCDA, shall
regularly update the NPC about data protection measures put in place to ensure
privacy of information,

SECTION 7. Agencies and Responsibilities - The following agencies and offices will
undertake the tasks below in relation to this act:

a, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) shall:
i, Create a program support office for the Emergency Health Grant program and
its local counterparts in the DSWD field offices.

ii, Provide overall management of the Emergency Health Grant program.

iii, Coordinate with NCDA and LGUs in building the Emergency Health Grant
beneficiary database based on existing databases from key agencies like the
PSA.

iv. Identify the appropriate delivery mechanism for the Emergency Health Grant.

v. _ Be responsible for disbursing the funds to beneficiaries.

vi. Ensure that the DSWD-NH shall continue updating the database of persons
with disabilities even after the expiration of this program, for future social
protection measures intended for persons with disabilities

Vii. Institute an accessible grievance mechanism and process that beneficiaries and
others may access to provide feedback and complaints regarding the
implementation of the program.

b. National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) shall:
i. Be the primary custodian of the database of persons with disabilities

ii, Coordinate with DSWD for the regular updating of the database of persons
with disabilities

iii, Conduct verification of the PWD beneficiaries that will be covered by the
Emergency Health Grant and subsequently issue a certification of veracity of
the beneficiaries list to the DSWD or purposes of the latter's program
implementations.


iv. Create an independent monitoring and evaluation team to review the
implementation of the program made up of OPWDs and representatives of
PDAOs.

v. Identify and design a social protection program for persons with disabilities.

c. Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) shall
i. Issue supporting policies that will create the institutional support (PDAO/
PDAFP) needed for local government units to effectively implement this
program.
ii, Issue a policy requiring the LGUs through the PDAO/PDAFP to submit
reports pertaining to the implementation of the program,
iii, Issue a policy requiring barangays and C/MSWOs to provide assistance to the
DSWD in the implementation of the program;

d. Department of Health (DOH) shall:

i, Provide assistance through the Barangay Health Emergency Response
Teams/Barangay Health Workers (BHERTs/BHWs), in the creation and
validation of the list of persons with disabilities in the barangays, in
coordination with the C/MSWO and the PDAO/ PDAFP; and

ii. Conduct related studies to inform future social protection and health programs
for persons with disabilities.

SECTION 8. Monitoring and Evaluation - The DSWD Central Office through its
Emergency Health Grant for Persons with Disabilities during the COVID 19 Pandemic
Program Support Office will undertake monitoring and evaluation, The monitoring and
evaluation report shall be published on the DSWD website including names of the
beneficiaries of the program. It shall include feedback and complaints coursed through the
grievance mechanism. The NCDA independent monitoring and evaluation report will also be
published on the DSWD website.

SECTION 9. Appropriations. - The government will treat the Emergency Health Grant for
Persons with Disabilities as part of its COVID-19 response. The Department of Budget and
Management (DBM) shall release directly to the DSWD the amount necessary for the
implementation of this Act.

SECTION 10. Separability Clause - If any provision of this Act is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain
valid and in effect.

SECTION 11. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect immediately upon Publication

in a newspaper of general circulation or in the official gazette and shall be in full force and
effect only for 12 months, unless extended by Congress.

Approved,