The Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) undertakes a research titled “A Survey on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the Philippines” seeking productive employment for the said vulnerable group.

The 2011-2016 Labor and Employment Plan (LEP) has identified the PWDs as among the vulnerable groups and priority sectors that should be given decent and productive employment. Despite the efforts of the government in promoting anti-discriminatory practices such as the enactment of Republic Act No. 7277 or the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons in 1992, which aims to ensure equal opportunities for suitable employment to PWDs as their able-bodied counterparts, the Asian Development Bank study (2005) estimated that only less than 10 percent of more than 100,000 employable PWDs registered with the DOLE were wage-employed.

The survey aims to provide policy recommendations/options and corrective measures in order to increase access and opportunities for more decent and productive employment for the PWDs, considering the need to address issues and concerns on the increasing number of persons in vulnerable employment.

In consultation with the National Council on Disability Affairs, and based on the 2010 Census of Persons with Disabilities in the Philippines, the survey is intended to be conducted in the National Capital Region, regions III, IV-A, and VI.

The research is set for validation and presentation alongside other completed researches by the ILS and other members of the Inter-Agency Committee on Research and Statistical Matters (IAC-RSM) in the 2016 DOLE Research Conference in December.

The Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) is the policy research and advocacy arm of the Department of Labor and Employment. For more information on this story, please contact the Advocacy and Publications Division at 527-3490.