This is the second of the Varsitarian’s two-part special report looking into the accessibility of the UST campus for persons with disability. Read the first part here.
RETROFITTING buildings in UST to be more accommodating for persons with disability (PWDs) primarily hinges on their age.
Nine of the 21 edifices at the Sampaloc campus were constructed before Batas Pambansa 344 was enacted in 1983. This law, known as “An Act to Enhance the Mobility of Disabled Persons by Requiring Certain Buildings, Institutions, Establishments and Public Utilities to Install Facilities and Other Devices,” imposes specific measurements and materials required for PWD facilities, including ramps, tactile pavings, and staircases.
Fr. Dexter Austria, O.P., director of the Facilities Management Office (FMO), said some older buildings are too old to be retrofitted with new PWD facilities.
Restrooms, for instance, demand numerous considerations, Austria said. Based on regulations, the number of cubicles must be proportionate to the number of students occupying the building. Faculty members may also request a dedicated restroom.
Architects must take into account compliance with the National Building Code and the Fire Code of the Philippines, in addition to the PWD law.
“’Di naman lumalaki ‘yong space natin dito sa UST,” Austria said. “Saan ko ilalagay ‘yon? We want to handle all the restrooms kaya pag nag-budget hearing sa Economic Council, we will be proposing to renovate a certain number.”
Engineer Albert Surla, assistant director of the FMO, acknowledged the need to conduct an audit of all UST buildings to ensure compliance with the PWD law.
“From an engineering point of view, we have to revisit the code and revisit kung ano ang existing condition ng mga building,” he told the Varsitarian in an interview.
“Kailangan kong i-analyze in detail…for example, sa ramps, binabaan natin ‘yong slope, e dati pala, acceptable ‘yong slope na ‘yon pero later on, na-realize ng mga architect na masyado palang mataas ‘yong slope [kaya] nahihirapan [mga PWD].”
Accessibility for PWDs is also a problem in other higher educational institutions.
A committee handling PWD affairs at the University of the Philippines (UP) University Student Council lamented in August that the campus remains “not PWD-friendly or not PWD-compliant,” according to a report by the Philippine Collegian, UP’s official student publication.
A 2015 undergraduate thesis written by Jhesset Thrina Enano, which won the Chit Estella Journalism Research Awards for Investigative Journalism at the Philippine Journalism Research Conference in March of that year, found that 20 buildings inside the UP Diliman campus failed to comply with the PWD law—lacking ramps, signages, restrooms, and parking spots.
Nine years later, UP’s Office of the Campus Architect lamented that a meager budget is the main hindrance to implementing PWD-related projects, according to the Collegian. For its 2025 proposed budget, UP only allocated P178 million, or 1.66 percent, to infrastructure.
Building age is also a problem at De La Salle University, according to a 2020 report by The LaSallian, its official English-language student publication. Some of its well-known and high-traffic edifices opened their doors well before the PWD law’s enactment: St. La Salle Hall (1924), St. Joseph Hall (1956), and St. Miguel Hall (1969).
The Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Management told the LaSallian that renovations to accommodate the needs of PWDs were already in the pipeline.
In 2019, the United States (US) State Department called out the Philippines for its ineffective enforcement of laws promoting PWD rights.
“The great majority of public buildings remained inaccessible to persons with physical disabilities,” it said in a report, titled “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018.”
“Many schools had architectural barriers that made attendance difficult for persons with disabilities. Government efforts to improve access to transportation for persons with disabilities were limited.”
Audit
Austria asserted that newly built edifices are already PWD-friendly.
“We can accommodate ang PWDs with regard to the new buildings—Frassati, Henry Sy,” the FMO director said. “Kasama na ‘yon sa [mga] dapat mayroon tayong PWD-friendly restrooms. Kahit sa General Santos (GenSan), sa Main Building natin doon, PWD-friendly na siya.”
The FMO is preparing to conduct an accessibility audit as the initial phase to enhance campus accessibility to PWDs. The office did not provide a specific timeline for this initiative.
“The first phase will be to study everything that we have here, in all the facilities that we have here in the campus—if our facilities can accommodate PWDs,” Austria said. “Let’s see. Is it feasible to accommodate PWDs? If not, what can we do about it? What alternatives can we provide?”
The Varsitarian conducted informal walkthroughs of eight structures with high foot traffic, for which the FMO was not informed in advance. Experts said buildings constructed before 1983 provided “bare minimum” facilities for PWDs, including the Main Building and St. Raymund de Peñafort Building.
For now, FMO has installed QR codes in public areas, including hallways and restrooms, to gather feedback from students and faculty members regarding the state of facilities inside UST.
“I want the students to be proactive in reporting,” Austria said. “Mabaho man ‘yan, madilim, o nadulas ka, hindi nag-flush ‘yong toilet [o] walang tubig—I want to hear all of these, so that we could assess and then, kung kaya, mabigyan namin ng solusyon.”
Wellness committee
The last executive board of the Central Student Council (CSC) held discussions with various administrative offices to explore ways to empower PWDs on campus. These dialogues led to the establishment of the Thomasian Wellness Aid System, a University-wide initiative designed to address students’ seven-dimensional needs: physical, emotional, and spiritual, among others.
The CSC Office of the Secretary also called for opportunities for missed assessments, a mental health aid system, and a PWD-friendly campus.
“The end goal of the Thomasian Wellness Aid System is policy recommendation,” Ierathel Tabuno, the former CSC president, told the Varsitarian. “The secretary’s work is research-based. The central issue that they tried to solve was the lack of a central mechanism for wellness aid.”
Austria vowed to engage with the CSC regarding PWD inclusivity and other pressing issues.
“The office is always open for discussion,” he said.
Neglect?
One aspect that the PWD law overlooked, experts said, is the provision of facilities for individuals with mental disabilities.
“Our laws deal with physical impairment or disability,” Oscar Conrad de Jesus, an engineer at the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, told the Varsitarian.
Carl Remington Ty, the principal architect of RMTY Designs and a faculty member at the College of Architecture, said interior designs must undergo careful evaluation to avoid compromising the needs of PWDs with mental or psychosocial conditions.
Individuals with mental disabilities, according to the Magna Carta of Disabled Persons (Republic Act 7277), are those suffering from “organic brain syndromes” such as “mental retardation, acquired lesions of the central nervous system and dementia.”
Under the Mental Health Care Act of 2017, educational institutions are tasked with:
- Raising awareness on mental health issues;
- Providing support and services for individuals at risk; and
- Establishing referral mechanisms for those with mental health conditions for treatment and psychosocial support.
What’s next?
Experts expressed concern that PWDs are often excluded from discussions regarding building construction, as they represent a minority.
“In terms of inviting PWDs in the Philippine setting, we are constrained to the fact that we are only doing it for research purposes,” De Jesus said. “You’re not calling stakeholders anymore. We’re not required to call people before we implement.”
“But in terms of, for example, formulating a comprehensive land use plan or a comprehensive development plan for a territory, provincial, city or municipal governments, you call on your stakeholders, but not all voices are heard because it is purely political. It all boils down to what your local executive will say,” he added.
Ty echoed this sentiment, noting that political considerations dominate the construction industry, resulting in the sidelining of PWD issues.
“Their political agenda, that’s what’s being pushed more,” he argued. “In terms of the totality of the urban plan and the design of the urban city itself, people with disabilities are often neglected.”
On July 23, Sen. Bong Revilla filed Senate Resolution 1077, which calls for a review of Batas Pambansa 344. The bill’s filing coincided with the birthday of Apolinario Mabini, the “brains of the revolution” who had polio.
“We need to look into it and study it again so that we can see if it is still suitable to respond to the special needs of PWDs,” the senator said in a statement.
“We want an audit of the facilities to see if they are compliant with this law. Remember, this is a law. It is required for them to provide facilities that are accessible for the use of PWDs,” he added.
Carmen Zubiaga, a former executive director at the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), encouraged educational institutions like UST to implement various initiatives to ensure inclusivity for all PWDs.
“Dapat magkaroon talaga ng onsite accessibility audit [para sa] lahat ng types of persons with disabilities,” she told the Varsitarian. “Kailangan ma-feel talaga ng mga learner with special needs that they are included by making all facilities and learning materials accessible to them.”
