Disabled Persons' Parking Places Act

I went to the mall today to have the lens of prescription glasses replaced. Shortly after dinner, I went out to the parking area to get something from the car. As I was exiting the mall, I saw a car preparing to park at the 'disabled parking' area.

Usually, I wait to see if there are any passenger inside who is privileged to use the slot provided for PWDs (people with disability). If there aren't, I still give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they are with or picking up a PWD who is not with them at the time that they parked. (which is what I also do when I pick up my 10 year old daughter Francesca who was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and uses a wheelchair). As a follow up, I will approach any mall authority nearby, usually the guards on duty, and remind them that there is a car parked at the "disabled parking" and that they may need to gently remind or ask the driver who parked there if they are indeed with a PWD as they enter the mall.

There have been situations in the past where I had to go to the mall administrator's office and complain about this situation. In my experience, I have encountered a lot of people who are using the 'disabled parking' slot but are not entitled to. At times, (it may look like that I am a stalker) I follow these people inside the mall to see if they are indeed with PWDs, and sometimes I see them going back to their car without any disabled person with them. So why are they parked there?

My last personal experience of this was at a hospital where my daughter goes to for therapy. See for yourselves.

NOTE: Before we continue, let me inform you that this specific issue has been corrected (on the side of the hospital management - and not with the motorcycle who clearly violated this PWD privilege) I brought this matter to the hospital's management and we ended up resolving this at the Vice President's office. 

If you'll look closely at the second photo, you will notice that there is a guard on duty who can clearly see that the motorcycle (water delivery service) is parked at the PWD area. Unfortunately, the problem here is ENFORCEMENT.

There is a law for PWDs, and we should abide by them. 

Republic Act 7277 Magna Carta for Disabled Persons' and Republic Act 9442 amending the previous act. There are Disability Laws that we need to be aware of.  (Resource links are from The National Council on Disability Affairs)

To stress the importance of parking on places for disabled persons', I found this Act by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, the Disabled Persons' Parking Places Act. Here is the file that you can read. Although the legislative status of this act as shown on the Senate of the Philippines' website, is still' Pending in the Committee'. I also researched on some info about the Legislative Process. 

There are privileges for our PWD brothers and sisters, and they are protected by law. The parking places for PWDs should only be used by them. These places are for their use for a valid reason, and I think that the reason isn't hard for anyone to understand. This is not rocket science. This is common sense.

Let us be considerate and do the right thing. 

Thanks for reading.