MANILA — Persons With Disabilities should file formal complaints when refused discounts and other privileges at commercial establishments, an official of the National Council on Disability Affairs said.

Speaking on TeleRadyo Serbisyo on Sunday, lawyer Walter Alava, regional programs coordinator for the NCDA, said that they process around 10-20 complaints a month but acknowledged incidents may be underreported.

“Kailangan po nilang i-report sa [Department of Trade and Industry] or sa [Persons with Disability Affairs Office],” he said.

Complainants should also be ready to help authorities when they launch an investigation into the incident, he said.

“Usually po kasi, ang nangyayari, nagre-report sila, pero pag kino-contact namin sila for an investigation, nawawala sila.”

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Under the Magna Carta for Persons With Disability, PWDs are entitled to at least a 20-percent discount on certain goods and services, including on food, medicines, transportation and accommodations. They are also exempted from paying Value-Added Tax.

• Around 2,000 complaints filed on denied senior, PWD discounts

Despite that, some establishments have refused to grant the discounts, saying these do not apply to promo prices or because they doubt the authenticity of the PWD ID presented.

“Ang suggestion ng NCAD, pinapaalalahanan natin na once you complain, assert ninyo yung right ninyo,” Alava said.

He said customers should also document the incident, put it in writing and submit an official complaint either with the PDAO that issued their PWD or the PDAO of the city or town where the incident happened.

• How to ensure PWDs' safety in a house fire

NON-APPARENT DISABILITIES

Alava acknowledged that PWDs who have non-apparent disabilities like psychosocial issues can have a difficult time at establishments.

He said that establishments that doubt the authenticity of a PWD card can call the PDAO that issued it to verify.

He added that authorities have been working on a national registry of PWDs, where more than 1 million have already registered.

“Hopefully, it can be used as a verifier doon sa mga IDs, pero medyo nagsa-start pa lang tayo,” he said.

NCAD is also working the Senate on a proposal to increase penalties for violations of the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities, which Alava said are too low. — Jonathan de Santos, ABS-CBN News