Government’s Policy Directions for REST
• Tourism for People with Disabilities and
Senior Citizens
• Tourism and Indigenous Peoples (CultureSensitive Tourism)
• Tourism and GAD (Gender and Development)
PWDs and Tourism
1. Cases against PWDS
2. PWDS defined
3. Government policies on PWDs
Case 1
• Cebu Pacific Airlines refused to allow 10 deaf
passengers on a flight to Boracay. All 10 were
already seated inside the plane, when the crew
told them to disembark.
• The crew cited company policy that blind and
deaf passengers had to be properly accompanied
in order to be treated as “regular passengers.”
• If unaccompanied, s/he may be accepted for
carriage provided s/he can take care of
her/himself on the ground and in-flight.
• The irony was that 4 members of the group were
visiting Americans who had flown all the way to the
Philippines
- on their own,
-without a hitch,
-and had demonstrably met the internationally
stringent standards of other airlines.
• They had come to attend the grand centennial of the
Philippine School for the Deaf, the oldest such school in
the Philippines.
• They hadn’t been apprised of the policy in advance.
• Worst of all, though they were promised a full refund,
what they received was short by P590, the agent’s
service fee apparently.
• (In the end, only two of the passengers were allowed
to board.)
Source: Disability rights, forgotten human rights
by R. Pangalangan, PDI 4/11/08
Case 2. Airline faces legal action for
PWD handling (1/19/10, ncda)
• In a letter dated January 8, 2010, NCDA scored Cebu
Pacific as it joins the growing public dismay over its ill
handling of a special child/passenger in a GMA news
report last January 6, 2010.
• On that same flight, another Cebu Pacific passenger
with special child also complained of being
discriminated by the airline.
• This came at the heel of previous unresolved cases
involving the same airline’s discrimination in handling
passenger with disabilities.
Disability statistics
(ADB country report, 2005)
• Statistics on disability in the Philippines have not been properly
established. There are an estimated 7.5 million Filipinos with
disabilities based on the WHO assumption that 10 percent of every
country’s given population has some form of disability.
• Government estimates that 70 percent of those with disabilities live
in rural areas where services are often not accessible.
• Past attempts to include persons with disability in national census
surveys have not been successful for many reasons, including the
refusal of families to declare that they have members with
disabilities.
What is a disability
• A disability refers to any restriction or lack of
ability to perform an activity in the manner or
within the range considered(WHO).
Persons with Disabilities (1995 Census)
Total blindness
Low vision
Partial deafness
Muteness
Loss of one or both arms/hands
Loss of one or both legs/feet
Paralysis of one or both arms
Paralysis of one or both legs
Paralysis on one arm and one leg
Paralysis of all four limbs
Mental retardation
Mental illness, and Others
Partial blindness
Total deafness
Poor hearing ability
Speech defect
http://www.unescap.org/stat/meet/widd/paperphilippines2.htm
Legal Framework
The Philippines adheres to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, that all human beings are born free and
equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled
to all the rights and freedoms regardless of age, race,
sex, and disability. The protection of basic human
rights—political and civil rights for all citizens including
those with disabilities—is provided for in the following
laws:
Laws
• Republic Act No 7277 (Magna Carta for Disabled
Persons),
• Batas Pambansa Blg. 344 (Accessibility Law),
Republic Act 6759 (White Cane Act)
• ILO Convention No. 159 (Vocational
Rehabilitation of Persons With Disability
• EO 709 (creation of NCDA to see the
implementation of the CRPD, or the “Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”.
Laws
• Republic Act 9442 -AN ACT AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7277,
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “MAGNA CARTA FOR DISABLED
PERSONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”(2007)
• Persons with disability shall be entitled to the following: Chap 8,
Sec. 32
• (a) At least twenty percent (20%) discount from all establishments
relative to the utilization of all services in hotels and similar lodging
establishments; restaurants and recreation centers for the exclusive
use or enjoyment of persons with disability;
• (b) A minimum of twenty percent (20%) discount on admission fees
charged by theaters, cinema houses, concert halls, circuses,
carnivals and other similar places of culture, leisure and
amusement for the exclusive use of enjoyment of persons with
disability;
• “SEC. 46. Penal Clause. – (a) Any person who violates any provision of this
Act shall suffer the following penalties:
• (1) For the first violation, a fine of not less than Fifty Thousand pesos
(P50,000.00) but not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos
(P100,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than six months but not more
than two years, or both at the discretion of the court; and
• (2) For any subsequent violation, a fine of not less than One hundred
thousand pesos (P100,000.00) but not exceeding Two hundred thousand
pesos (P200,000.00) or imprisonment for not less than two years but not
more than six years, or both at the discretion of the court.
• (b) Any person who abuses the privileges granted herein shall be punished
with imprisonment of not less than six months or a fine of not less than
Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00), but not more than Fifty thousand pesos
(P50,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court.
• (c) If the violator is a corporation, organization or any similar entity, the
officials thereof directly involved shall be liable therefore.
• (f) At least twenty percent (20%) discount on
fare for domestic air and sea travel for the
exclusive use or enjoyment of persons with
disability;
• (g) At least twenty percent (20%) discount in
public railways, skyways and bus fare for the
exclusive use and enjoyment of person with
disability;
RA 6759- AN ACT DECLARING AUGUST ONE OF EACH YEAR AS WHITE CANE
SAFETY DAY IN THE PHILIPPINES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES (1989)
• SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is declared to be the
policy of the State to promote and protect the physical,
moral, and social well-being of all handicapped persons,
such as the blind, and to undertake studies on specific
causes of high percentage of blind people in the
Philippines.
• SECTION 3. White Cane Safety Day. – August One of each
year is hereby declared as White Cane Safety Day for the
purposes of instilling public awareness of the plight of the
blind, promoting recognition and acceptance of the “white
cane” as a symbol of the need of the blind for specific
assistance and as a reminder of the individual’s duty to care
for and accord due respect to his unfortunate brethren.
DOT MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO.
2011-04
•
ADOPTING THE GUIDELINES ON THE GRANT OF SPECIAL DISCOUNTS TO PERSONS
WITH DISABILITIES PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9442
•
WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 9442 also known as the “Magna Carta for Disabled
Persons and for Other Purposes”was signed into law on 30 April 2007 amending
Republic Act 7277 and granting other privileges and incentives to persons with
disabilities;
•
WHEREAS, Chapter 8, Section 32 of Republic Act 9442 provides the entitlement of
at least twenty percent (20%) discount to persons with disabilities for their
exclusive use of enjoyment to the following:
Utilization of all services in hotels and similar lodging establishments, restaurants
and recreation centers;
Admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses, concert halls, circuses,
carnivals and other similar places of culture, leisure and amusement;
Medical and dental services, diagnostic and laboratory tests in all private
hospitals and medical facilities including professional fees of doctor/s; and
•
•
•
• Transportation fare for domestic land, air and sea
travel.
• WHEREAS, the aforementioned privileges are available
only to persons with disabilities and who are Filipino
citizens upon presenting proof of his/her entitlement,
such as passport or valid identification card issued by
the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) or by
the authorized office of the Local Government Units
(LGUs) where he/she resides. However, such privileges
may not be claimed if the persons with disability claims
a higher discount as may be granted by the commercial
establishment and/or under other existing laws or in
combination with other discount programs/s.
• NOW, THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the above premises, all
Department of Tourism (DOT) accredited restaurants, hotels, tourists inns,
apartels, pension houses, resorts and similar lodging establishments,
tertiary hospitals, ambulatory clinics, spas, sports and recreational
clubs/centers, museums, galleries, toursit land, water and air transport
operators, are hereby directed to comply with the pertinent provisions of
Republic Act No. 9442, AN ACT AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7277,
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “MAGNA CARTA FOR DISABLED PERSONS
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”.
• Failure to comply with the grant of such benefits and privileges stated
herein shall be a ground for the REVIEW of your DOT accreditation under
this Department’s Rules and Regulations on Accreditation without
prejudice to said establishment’s liability as stated in the penal provisions
of RA No. 9442 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.
• Manila, Philippines. 11 February 2011
Travel issues of PWDs: accessibility
• Inaccessible transport, lack of PWD tailored-fit
accommodations, inaccessible destinations
• In other words, absence of an accessible
tourism product
• Violations or non-implementation of laws
PWD statistics
• There are an estimated 7.5 million Filipinos with disabilities in 2000
based on the World
• Health Organization’s assumption that 10% of every country’s
population has some form of
• disability. In 2004, the Filipinos with disabilities would reach about
8.3 million.
• • The Government estimates that 70% of those with disabilities live
in rural areas where
• services are often not accessible.
• • Past attempts to include persons with disabilities in national
census surveys have not been
• successful for many reasons, including the refusal of families to
declare that they have
• members with disabilities.
II
Senior Tourism
A.Demographic Trend: inverted pyramid
“The world has stopped breeding.”
-lesser children
-longer lives
-smaller families
-more women pursuing careers than
rearing children
-more senior citizens
Current situation
• You have an aging population where the
senior citizens outnumber the young, growing
population.
• What is the implication? More pensioners
who can be tapped for tourism.
• The profile in the US: older Americans are
wealthier, healthier and are living longer
Who are the senior citizens
The Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 which gives the elderly benefits
and privileges not included in the Senior Citizens Act of 1992 (Republic Act
No. 7432) defines senior citizens as
• resident citizens of the Philippines aged 60 and above.
• Benefits for senior citizens include:
•
A 20-percent discount and exemption from the value-added tax on the
sale of goods and services (medicines, medical and dental fees, transport
fares, services in hotels and restaurants, admission fees in theaters and
other places of leisure)
• In case of discount promos, the senior citizens shall avail themselves of
either the promotional discount or the 20-percent discount, whichever is
higher.
Target for tourism: baby boomers
• 1. Younger Baby Boomers (those born between
1956-1965)
• 2. Older Baby Boomers (those born between
1946-1955)
• 3. Silent Generation (1937-1945)
• 4. G.I. Generation (born before 1937)
Access tourism
• Access tourism or accessible tourism or
inclusive tourism is tourism forPwDs, seniors,
and ageing Baby Boomers who will experience
more and more disability as they age.
• In other words, access tourism is for all.
Concept of universal design
• It embraces the concept of Universal Design
which designs the built environment so that all
may use it easily.
• It would therefore create a built environment
accessible to PwDs, slow walkers, those
temporarily disabled by accident or illness, the
aged, parents with prams or pushchairs, and
anyone else needing ease of egress.
• In other words, it would be fully inclusive to
everyone.
Access tourism
• - Also known as “Access Tourism”, “Universal
Tourism”, “Inclusive Tourism” and in some
countries such as in Japan “Barrier-free Tourism”
• “tourism and travel that is accessible to all
people, with disabilities or not, including those
with mobility, hearing, sight, cognitive, or
intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, older
persons and those with temporary
disabilities" (Takayama Declaration - Appendix,
UNESCAP, 2009).
Access tourism
• enables people with access requirements, including
mobility, vision, hearing and cognitive dimensions of
access, to function independently and with equity and
dignity through the delivery of universally designed
tourism products, services and environments. This
definition is inclusive of all people including those
travelling with children in prams, people with
disabilities and seniors (Darcy & Dickson, 2009, p. 34).
Reference: Darcy, S., & Dickson, T. (2009). A Whole-ofLife Approach to Tourism: The Case for Accessible
Tourism Experiences. Journal of Hospitality and
Tourism Management, 16(1), 32-44.
Accessible tourism
• endeavors to ensure tourist destinations,
products and services are accessible to all people,
regardless of their physical limitations, disabilities
or age.
• encompasses publicly and privately owned tourist
locations.
• The improvements not only benefit those with
permanent physical disabilities, but also parents
with small children, elderly travellers, people with
temporary injuries such as a broken leg, as well as
their travel companions(wikipedia)
Tourism and IPs
• Indigenous peoples or IPs comprise five per cent
of the world’s population.
• IPs occupy 20% of the world’s land surface but
nurture 80% of the world’s biodiversity as
ancestral lands and territories (UN 2002).
• The emergence of news forms of tourism has
focused the discussion of the impacts of tourism
on indigenous peoples or IPS whose pristine and
biologically diverse homelands have become
natural targets for tourism.
Tourist destinations with indigenous communities(main
issue: displacement from ancestral land)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Boracay- Ati
Puerto Galera- Mangyan, Iraya
Banaue- Ifugao
Baguio-Ibaloi, Kankanay
Palawan-Tagbanua, Batak
Davao-Nabdaya, Manobo, Samal
Subic-Aeta
Zamboanga- Subanon
Lake Sebu- T’boli
Tourism development strategy
• With nature and culture as the two main
tourism assets, “the overriding goal is to
preserve, conserve and enhance the area’s
natural environment and its rich tribal culture,
for people and visitors to appreciate, enjoy
and learn from” (CAR TMP 1995)
Issues and challenges
• Participation in tourism development
• Protection of their environment
• Cultural sensitivity
-being aware of cultural values
-appropriate photography
-respect for people’s wishes
• Knowing the do’s and don’t’s