It was a historical day at the North wing of the House of Representatives when about 300 deaf and their advocates gathered at the lobby and met by Bayan Muna Partylist Representative Teddy Casino. He authored House Bill 4632- an providing court interpreter for the deaf and allocating 2Million pesos thereof. Rep. Casino then accompanied a small group to meet the Speaker of the House, Rep. Sonny Belmonte at his office on the second floor, while the rest of the group were ushered by his staff at the gallery of the plenary hall.
At the office of the Speaker of the House, Raphy Domingo, the spokeperson and consultant of the Philippine Federation of the Deaf informed Speaker Belmonte about the need for the bill to be passed. The Speaker positively replied that he sees no reason for the bill to fail. The Officers of PFD, led by Rey Alfed Lee, President turned over the 110,000 signatures from the Deaf Community all over the Philippines in support of the Bill.
Carmen Zubiaga of WOWLEAP also informed Speaker Belmonte of another bill soon to be filed which seeks the official recognition of the Filipino sign Language (FSL) as the national sign language for the Deaf. The Honorable Speaker was surprised to hear about the issue and expressed his understanding that all sign languages were universal for the deaf. Raphy briefly explained that Filipino sign language is embedded in Filipino Deaf culture and should be used especially in early education of deaf children. Just like spoken languages and dialects, the mother tongue, and in case of the deaf the mother sign language should be used to make learning easier with comprehension for the deaf to be properly educated. As the time is too short to explain everything about the Filipino Sign Language and the research done by PDRC and PFD, he requested a meeting for this. Carmen Zubiaga and Jeana Manalaysay also mentioned to the speaker about the accessibility of the whole House of Representative complex for all people with disabilities. They mentioned the lack of accessible toilets for wheelchair users, parking space for PWDs and other provisions. Again, the Honorable Speaker was surprised that there were concerns like those that he was not really aware of. Carmen added quickly that there should be disability awareness program for the House of Representatives for all Congressmen to be aware of needs of their constituencies and allocate at least 10% of their pork barrel for disability programs in their districts and that t
he PWD sector is willing to conduct those awareness sessions. The Speaker encouraged the group to write a proposal for everything mentioned. It was a hopeful meeting with the Speaker of the House. Its only up to those who were present to follow up. After the photo session, the group joined the other delegation at the gallery to support the privilege speech of Congressman Teddy Casino at the plenary where he acknowledge the delegation of the Deaf and other persons with disabilities supporting them. An interpreter was provided.
It was a good experience. Other advocates present were Mr. Lauro Purcil of the Philippinee Coalition of UNCRPD, Dr. Therese Bustos of UP College of Special Education, Ms. Salou Sobrepena of CAP College for the Deaf, Jojo Esposo of MCCID and Representative from Life Haven.
It was a historical day at the North wing of the House of Representatives when about 300 deaf and their advocates gathered at the lobby and met by Bayan Muna Partylist Representative Teddy Casino. He authored House Bill 4632- an providing court interpreter for the deaf and allocating 2Million pesos thereof. Rep. Casino then accompanied a small group to meet the Speaker of the House, Rep. Sonny Belmonte at his office on the second floor, while the rest of the group were ushered by his staff at the gallery of the plenary hall. 
At the office of the Speaker of the House, Raphy Domingo, the spokeperson and consultant of the Philippine Federation of the Deaf informed Speaker Belmonte about the need for the bill to be passed. The Speaker positively replied that he sees no reason for the bill to fail. The Officers of PFD, led by Rey Alfed Lee, President turned over the 110,000 signatures from the Deaf Community all over the Philippines in support of the Bill. 
Carmen Zubiaga of WOWLEAP also informed Speaker Belmonte of another bill soon to be filed which seeks the official recognition of the Filipino sign Language (FSL) as the national sign language for the Deaf. The Honorable Speaker was surprised to hear about the issue and expressed his understanding that all sign languages were universal for the deaf. Raphy briefly explained that Filipino sign language is embedded in Filipino Deaf culture and should be used especially in early education of deaf children. Just like spoken languages and dialects, the mother tongue, and in case of the deaf the mother sign language should be used to make learning easier with comprehension for the deaf to be properly educated. As the time is too short to explain everything about the Filipino Sign Language and the research done by PDRC and PFD, he requested a meeting for this. Carmen Zubiaga and Jeana Manalaysay also mentioned to the speaker about the accessibility of the whole House of Representative complex for all people with disabilities. They mentioned the lack of accessible toilets for wheelchair users, parking space for PWDs and other provisions. Again, the Honorable Speaker was surprised that there were concerns like those that he was not really aware of. Carmen added quickly that there should be disability awareness program for the House of Representatives for all Congressmen to be aware of needs of their constituencies and allocate at least 10% of their pork barrel for disability programs in their districts and that t
he PWD sector is willing to conduct those awareness sessions. The Speaker encouraged the group to write a proposal for everything mentioned. It was a hopeful meeting with the Speaker of the House. Its only up to those who were present to follow up. After the photo session, the group joined the other delegation at the gallery to support the privilege speech of Congressman Teddy Casino at the plenary where he acknowledge the delegation of the Deaf and other persons with disabilities supporting them. An interpreter was provided. 
It was a good experience. Other advocates present were Mr. Lauro Purcil of the Philippinee Coalition of UNCRPD, Dr. Therese Bustos of UP College of Special Education, Ms. Salou Sobrepena of CAP College for the Deaf, Jojo Esposo of MCCID and Representative from Life Haven. 
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