Erwin Tulfo wants lifetime validity of PWD IDs

Senator Erwin Tulfo, who chairs the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare, and Rural Development, has filed a bill that seeks to grant a lifetime validity for identification cards of persons with disability (PWD), citing their plight to have these renewed upon expiration.

Under Senate Bill 1405, Tulfo is seeking to amend Republic Act 7277 or the Magna Carta for Persons with Disability to have the issuance of PWD IDs free of charge and to be valid for the lifetime of the cardholder.

“This is the plight of Filipino PWDs: once their ID expires, they need to line up again to get their requirements, and they need money for transport fares,” Tulfo said in a statement released Sunday.

“They need to yet again allot time, energy, and resources just to renew their IDs, despite their disability. It is like adding insult to injury,” he added.

At present, the Magna Carta for Persons with Disability provides benefits and privileges such as a 20% discount on goods and services, and equal opportunities for employment and education, among others.

“Their PWD IDs are very important because they receive their benefits through that card. Giving expiry dates to their IDs is like depriving them of access to benefits given to them by law,” Tulfo said.

Several similar measures have been previously filed in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas, RF, GMA Integrated News