Rowena Guanzon, P3PWD Party-List first nominee.*
Negrense Rowena Guanzon, P3PWD Party-List first nominee, said she wants rights of persons with disabilities (PWD) embodied in the country’s laws and policies.
If her party-list group gains a seat in Congress in the May 12 polls she will push for the passage of a law allocating a 5 percent PWD and senior citizens development fund from the total budget of local governments and national agencies, Guanzon said at a press conference in Bacolod City on Friday, May 2.
This would be similar to the Gender and Development Fund, which they in the women’s rights movement were able to obtain after so many years of struggle, said Guanzon, a former Commission on Elections commissioner and mayor of Cadiz City.
Right now the PWDs and seniors get 1 percent of the barangay budget, and then both groups have to fight over the amount, she said.
She said P3PWD is a party-list group of a genuine marginalized sector with a wide organization base nationwide.
“We want a seat in Congress so our sector can gain a fair share in the national budget,” she said.
“Our laws in the Philippines should be based on the UN declaration on rights of persons with disabilities,” she said.
”We don’t want charity, we want rights of persons with disabilities to be embodied in our laws, policies and funding of our government agencies,” Guanzon said.
Guanzon said she also wants a law passed against political dynasties in the party list system.
“Political dynasties are centered on corruption and political patronage,” she said.
Guanzon slammed politicians who had no money when they started out and enriched themselves while in office.*
Concerns