Councilor Maybelle Abogado-Quilnat wanted to help Persons with Disability in her hometown of Balingasag in Misamis Oriental. She wanted to do this by pushing for a PWD Code but being the only minority-party councilor meant the odds were not in her favor. She decided to push for the second-best reform idea, the creation of a PWD Council, because she considered this to be more politically feasible.

Councilor Quilnat’s local governance experience included service as an Executive Assistant and then as Acting Municipal Administrator under the former Mayor. That former Mayor was her mother; Last 2022 election, of the entire slate to which she belonged, only Councilor Quilnat got elected. The incumbent LCE was her mother’s opponent during the previous election. Against this background, she was not surprised that any idea she floated was blocked. Nor was she surprised that the committee chairmanship given to her was the Committee on Special Persons, a position that had not been given much attention. She accepted the position partly because her brother is a cerebral palsy patient and is considered a PWD.

She met with the PWD Federation, composed of the presidents of 30 Barangay-level PWD organizations.  She learned that foremost among the PWD concerns is the perception that they are not being given attention. Aside from monthly meetings and an annual Christmas party, there were no other engagements with them.

PWD Federation members use the Senior Citizens’ Office during their monthly meeting because they have no office of their own. Councilor Quilnat sponsored a resolution requesting the mayor to allow PWD to use a building that had been donated by a civic club. The resolution was approved by her colleagues in the municipal council, but an executive assistant said the space was too small.  PWD officers did not insist on using the space. Councilor Quilnat learned from this experience that even when a resolution has been passed, the beneficiaries will not insist if they feel they are up against a strong political force.

Although she’s the lone opposition in her town, Councilor Quilnat had good relations with the Congressman and the Governor. She secured funding from the Governor for a Municipality-wide celebration of International Disability Day on December 3, 2022.  Her request to use the municipal gym for this purpose was denied. Looking for a politically feasible option, she found an allied Barangay Captain who made available his barangay’s sports complex. So, the PWD community was able to hold their activities. Councilor Quilnat said they all came out of it with lifted spirits and more optimism about what could be done with the PWD community.

She started drafting a “PWD Code”, an omnibus piece of legislation that would spell out all policies and programs for the PWD sector. She thought that such an ordinance would achieve the necessary impact and be sustainable.

However, she had doubts about the political feasibility of such a policy.  The odds were not in her favor – if a division of the house is called on any provision of the Code, she would surely lose. And she had observed that the PWDs were not asserting themselves against a strong political party.

When she joined the Development Entrepreneurship Online Course, she thought hard about sustainability. She asked herself questions like, “Will the LGU treat the PWD the same way after my term?”, and “Why are the PWD not asserting their cause?” “Will the PWD Code be implemented, even if it is adopted?”, and “Who will push for its implementation if I lose the next election?

In the DE Mentoring program that followed, talks with her mentor led her to the realization that she needed to involve other people as partners. Coalition members can lend their voice and numbers to the PWD advocacy and can convince more members of the current political dispensation. A coalition can also encourage the PWDs to speak out and stand for their interests.

Thus, Councilor Quilnat crafted an ordinance to create the Balingasag PWD Council. She included the schools, the Church, civil society organizations, and each PWD organization in each of the 30 barangays in their Municipality. She proposed that the mayor would be the Chairman, and she would be the Vice-Chairman. She also added a provision that said the approved ordinance would be self-executory (so that its implementation would not depend on executive action). She thought that, despite political affiliations, her colleagues in the Council would not oppose an ordinance that aims to do something good for the PWD sector.

Despite much debate in the Municipal Council, her proposed ordinance was approved on August 14, 2023. However, a municipal ordinance has to go through a review by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, or the Provincial Council of Misamis Oriental. So, while she waited for the Provincial Council’s approval, she pushed through with the celebration of International Disability Day on December 3, 2023, in which 30 PWD barangay organizations participated.

On January 15, 2024, the Ordinance was approved by the Provincial Council of Misamis Oriental. Councilor Quilnat immediately started working to convene the Council for the first time this September.

Changed Behaviors

Councilor Quilnat cites four changes in behavior on the part of the PWDs and the Municipal Government, which she believes were influenced by the adoption of the Ordinance:

1. Increased participation by PWDs in the December PWD Day celebration – in the 2022 PWD Day celebration, there were about 100 PWD participants – mostly officers of the barangay-level organizations.  When the event was celebrated again in December 2023 (after the PWD Council Ordinance was passed), the number of participating PWDs increased to 300 – and included not just officers but also members of the barangay-level organizations.

• An employee from the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office now attends the monthly meetings of the PWD Federation (before the Ordinance, it was only Councilor Quilnat who attended these meetings). The MSWDO officer takes note of the PWD Federation’s concerns, takes it up with the MSWDO, and reports on the local government’s response in the next meeting.

• The Municipality started improving its own Disability Week Celebration in July. It is a smaller version of the December celebration and serves to maintain the interest and enthusiasm of the PWDs. Unlike in previous years, elected municipal officials from the majority party are now attending this celebration.

• The PWD Federation has asserted its advocacy for an increase in the PWD barangay-level presidents’ monthly allowance. It’s now 500.00 pesos per barangay per month; they are now persuading the Municipal Council to increase the amount to 1,000.00 per month.

Councilor Quilnat knows that hard work still lies ahead. She is happy to note that the PWD community is now starting to assert itself and see increased interest in PWD matters from members of the majority party. Elections are scheduled for 2025, after which the political landscape might change. However, with the PWD Council already in place, she is confident that the PWD community can influence the future.