The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) ordered on Wednesday, May 4, all its local officials to include employees with disabilities to the activities of the department, especially in programs and projects where they could help the most.
Acting Environment Secretary Jim O. Sampulna issued the order in a bid to address discrimination in the department as ordered by President Duterte.
“Those who are strong must support those who are weak. God gave us a complete body to accomplish this mission—to assure that the PWDs(persond with disabilities) are comfortable and happy in working in the DENR,” Sampulna said.
“PWDs often encounter discrimination. That’s something that I don’t want to happen in DENR, that our PWDs are being discriminated. Whatever we give to those who are not disabled, we should also give to the PWDs,” he added.
In his message during a hybrid webinar, “Invest in Our Planet: Adopt PWD Environmental Best Practices, Strengthening PWDs’ and Senior Citizens’ Social Environmental Networks,” on April 27, Sampula said there should be equal treatment among DENR employees.
Eighty workers, 18 of them from the Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAOs) in various local government units, and the DENR-PWD focal persons, took part in the activity where the effects of climate change and best practices on environment conservation and protection were discussed.
The webinar, which is a part of the Earth Day 2022 culminating activity, aimed to fulfill the DENR’s mission of “mobilizing the citizenry in protecting, conserving, and managing the environment and natural resources for the present and future generations.”
It is also in consonance with adopting a “whole-of-community approach” with PWDs in the spotlight and an integral part of activities in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
For his part, DENR Assistant Secretary for Human Resources, Strategic Communication and Sectoral Initiatives Hiro V. Masuda elaborated this year’s theme of Earth Day 2022, “Invest in our Planet.”
“Including all sectors of society, all people, wildlife, plants, will be a big part of sustaining the world we live in,” Masuda said.
“There will be more environmental learning activities and interventions for the PWDs to look out for, including a memorandum of agreement signing to create counterparts of information, education, and communication materials in Braille,” he added.