(a) Disabled persons are part of Philippine society, thus the State shall give full support to the improvement of the total well-being of disabled persons and their integration into the mainstream of society. Toward this end, the State shall adopt policies ensuring the rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance of disabled persons. It shall develop their skills and potentials to enable them to compete favorably for available opportunities. 
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(b) Disabled persons have the same rights as other people to take their proper place in society. They should be able to live freely and as independently as possible. This must be the concern of everyone — the family, community and all government and nongovernment organizations. Disabled persons' rights must never be perceived as welfare services by the Government.

(c) The rehabilitation of the disabled persons shall be the concern of the Government in order to foster their capacity to attain a more meaningful, productive and satisfying life. To reach out to a greater number of disabled persons, the rehabilitation services and benefits shall be expanded beyond the traditional urban-based centers to community based programs, that will ensure full participation of different sectors as supported by national and local government agencies. chan robles virtual law library

(d) The State also recognizes the role of the private sector in promoting the welfare of disabled persons and shall encourage partnership in programs that address their needs and concerns. 

(e) To facilitate integration of disabled persons into the mainstream of society, the State shall advocate for and encourage respect for disabled persons. The State shall exert all efforts to remove all social, cultural, economic, environmental and attitudinal barriers that are prejudicial to disabled persons.

(a) Disabled persons are those suffering from restriction or different abilities, as a result of a mental, physical or sensory impairment, to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being; 

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(b) Impairment is any loss, diminution or aberration of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure or function; 

(c) Disability shall mean 1) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more psychological, physiological or anatomical function of an individual or activities of such individual; 2) a record of such an impairment; or 3) being regarded as having such an impairment; chan robles virtual law library

(d) Handicap refers to a disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment or a disability, that limits or prevents the function or activity, that is considered normal given the age and sex of the individual; 

(e) Rehabilitation is an integrated approach to physical, social, cultural, spiritual, educational and vocational measures that create conditions for the individual to attain the highest possible level of functional ability; 

(f) Social Barriers refer to the characteristics of institutions, whether legal, economic, cultural, recreational or other, any human group, community, or society which limit the fullest possible participation of disabled persons in the life of the group. Social barriers include negative attitudes which tend to single out and exclude disabled persons and which distort roles and inter-personal relationships; 

(g) Auxiliary Aids and Services include:

(1) qualified interpreters or other effective methods of delivering materials to individuals with hearing impairments;

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(2) qualified readers, taped tests, or other effective methods of delivering materials to individuals with visual impairments;

(3) acquisition or modification of equipment or devices; and chan robles virtual law library

(4) other similar services and actions or all types of aids and services that facilitate the learning process of people with mental disability. 

(h) Reasonable Accommodation include 1) improvement of existing facilities used by employees in order to render these readily accessible to and usable by disabled persons; and 2) modification of work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, appropriate adjustments or modifications of examinations, training materials or company policies, rules and regulations, the provision of auxiliary aids and services, and other similar accommodations for disabled persons; 

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(i) Sheltered Employment refers to the provision of productive work for disabled persons through workshops providing special facilities, income-producing projects or homework schemes with a view to giving them the opportunity to earn a living thus enabling them to acquire a working capacity required in open industry; 

(j) Auxiliary Social Services are the supportive activities in the delivery of social services to the marginalized sectors of society;

(k) Marginalized Disabled Persons refer to disabled persons who lack access to rehabilitative services and opportunities to be able to participate fully in socioeconomic activities and who have no means of livelihood and whose incomes fall below the poverty threshold; chan robles virtual law library

(l) Qualified Individual with a Disability shall mean an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodations, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires. However, consideration shall be given to the employer's judgment as to what functions of a job are essential, and if an employer has prepared a written description before advertising or interviewing applicants for the job, this description shall be considered evidence of the essential functions of the job;

(m) Readily Achievable means a goal can be easily attained and carried out without much difficulty or expense. In determining whether an action is readily achievable, factors to be considered include — 

(1) the nature and cost of the action;

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(2) the overall financial resources of the facility or facilities involved in the action; the number of persons employed at such facility; the effect on expenses and resources, or the impact otherwise of such action upon the operation of the facility; 

(3) the overall financial resources of the covered entity with respect to the number of its employees; the number, type and location of its facilities; and chan robles virtual law library

(4) the type of operation or operations of the covered entity, including the composition, structure and functions of the work force of such entity; the geographic separateness, administrative or fiscal relationship of the facility or facilities in question to the covered entity. 

(n) Public Transportation means transportation by air, land and sea that provides the public with general or special service on a regular and continuing basis; 

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(o) Covered Entity means an employer, employment agency, labor organization or joint-labor management committee; and 

(p) Commerce shall be taken to mean as travel, trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, or communication among the provinces or between any foreign country or any territory or possession and any province.

(a) prevention of disability, whether occurring prenatally or postnatally;
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(b) recognition and early diagnosis of disability; and 

(c) early rehabilitation of the disabled. 

(a) prevention of disability through immunization, nutrition, environmental protection and preservation, and genetic counseling; and early detection of disability and timely intervention to arrest disabling condition; and 

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(b) medical treatment and rehabilitation.chan robles virtual law library

(a) assistance in the acquisition of prosthetic devices and medical intervention of specialty services;

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(b) provision of specialized training activities designed to improve functional limitations of disabled persons related to communication skills; 

(c) development among disabled persons of a positive self-image through the provision of counseling, orientation and mobility and strengthening daily living capability;

(d) provision of family care services geared towards developing the capability of families to respond to the needs of the disabled members of the family; 

(e) provision of substitute family care services and the facilities therefor for abandoned, neglected, abused and unattached disabled persons who need custodial care; chan robles virtual law library

(f) provision of after care and follow-up services for the continued rehabilitation in a community-based setting of disabled persons who were released from residential care or rehabilitation centers; and 

(g) provision of day care services for disabled children of pre-school age. 

(a) articles and literatures like books and periodicals, orthopedic and other devices, and teaching aids for the use of the disabled sent by mail within the Philippines and abroad; and

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(b) aids and orthopedic devices for the disabled sent by abroad by mail for repair:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

(a) Limiting, segregating or classifying a disabled job applicant in such a manner that adversely affects his work opportunities;
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(b) Using qualification standards, employment tests or other selection criteria that screen out or tend to screen out a disabled person unless such standards, tests or other selection criteria are shown to be job-related for the position in question and are consistent with business necessity;

(c) Utilizing standards, criteria, or methods of administration that:

(1) have the effect of discrimination on the basis of disability; or chan robles virtual law library

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(2) perpetuate the discrimination of others who are subject to common administrative control.

(d) Providing less compensation, such as salary, wage or other forms of remuneration and fringe benefits, to a qualified disabled employee, by reason of his disability, than the amount to which a non-disabled person performing the same work is entitled;
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(e) Favoring a non-disabled employee over a qualified disabled employee with respect to promotion, training opportunities, study and scholarship grants, solely on account of the latter's disability; 

(f) Re-assigning or transferring a disabled employee to a job or position he cannot perform by reason of his disability;

(g) Dismissing or terminating the services of a disabled employee by reason of his disability unless the employer can prove that he impairs the satisfactory performance of the work involved to the prejudice of the business entity: Provided, however, That the employer first sought to provide reasonable accommodations for disabled persons; 

(h) Failing to select or administer in the most effective manner employment tests which accurately reflect the skills, aptitude or other factor of the disabled applicant or employee that such tests purports to measure, rather than the impaired sensory, manual or speaking skills of such applicant or employee, if any; and

(i) Excluding disabled persons from membership in labor unions or similar organizations. 

(a) all entering employees are subjected to such an examination regardless of disability; 

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(b) information obtained during the medical condition or history of the applicant is collected and maintained on separate forms and in separate medical files and is treated as a confidential medical record; Provided, however, That:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

(1) supervisors and managers may be informed regarding necessary restrictions on the work or duties of the employees and necessary accommodations;chan robles virtual law library

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(2) first aid and safety personnel may be informed, when appropriate, if the disability may require emergency treatment;

(3) government officials investigating compliance with this Act shall be provided relevant information on request; and 

(4) the results of such examination are used only in accordance with this Act.

(a) an inn, hotel, motel, or other place of lodging, except for an establishment located within a building that contains not more than five (5) rooms for rent or hire and that is actually occupied by the proprietor of such establishment as the residence of such proprietor;
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(b) a restaurant, bar, or other establishment serving food or drink;

(c) a motion picture, theater, concert hall, stadium, or other place of exhibition or entertainment; 

(d) an auditorium, convention center, lecture hall, or other place of public gathering;chan robles virtual law library

(e) a bakery, grocery store, hardware store, shopping center, or other sales or rental establishment;

(f) a bank, barber shop, beauty shop, travel service, funeral parlor, gas station, office of a lawyer, pharmacy, insurance office, professional office of a health care provider, hospital or other service establishment;

(g) a terminal, depot, or other station used for specified public transportation;

(h) a museum, gallery, library or other place of public display or collection; 

(i) a park, zoo, amusement park, or other place of recreation;

(j) a nursery, elementary, secondary, undergraduate, or post-graduate private school, or other place of education;

(k) a gymnasium, health spa, bowling alley, golf course; or chan robles virtual law library

(l) other place of exercise or recreation. 

(1) denying a disabled person, directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangement, the opportunity to participate in or benefit from the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of an entity by reason of his disability; 

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(2) affording a disabled person, on the basis of his disability, directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangement, with the opportunity to participate in or benefit from a good service, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation that is not equal to that afforded to other able-bodied persons; and 

(3) providing a disabled person, on the basis of his disability, directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangement, with a good, service, facility, advantage, privilege, or accommodation that is different or separate form that provided to other able-bodied persons unless such action is necessary to provide the disabled person with a good, service, facility, advantage, privilege, or accommodation, or other opportunity that is as effective as that provided to others; 

(1) the imposition or application of eligibility criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability or any class or individuals with disabilities from fully and equally enjoying any goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations, unless such criteria can be shown to be necessary for the provision of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, or accommodations being offered;chan robles virtual law library

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(2) a failure to make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, when such modifications are necessary to afford such goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations to individuals with disabilities, unless the entity can demonstrate that making such modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the goods, facilities, services, privileges, advantages, or accommodations;

(3) failure to take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that no individual with a disability is excluded, denied services, segregated or otherwise treated differently than other individuals because of the absence of auxiliary aids and services, unless the entity can demonstrate that taking such steps would fundamentally alter the nature of the good, service, facility, privilege, advantage or accommodation being offered or would result in undue burden; 

(4) a failure to remove architectural barriers, and communication barriers that are structural in nature, in existing facilities, where such removal is readily achievable; and 

(5) where an entity can demonstrate that the removal of a barrier under clause (4) is not readily achievable, a failure to make such goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations available through alternative methods if such methods are readily achievable.chan robles virtual law library

(1) repatriation of investments; 

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(2) remittance of earnings; 

(3) remittance of payments on foreign contracts; 

(4) freedom from expropriations; 

(5) freedom from requisition of investment; chan robles virtual law library

(6) income tax holiday; 

(7) additional deduction for labor expense; 

(8) tax and duty exemption on imported capital equipment; 

(9) tax credit on domestic capital equipment;

(10) exemption from contractor's tax; 

(11) simplification of customs procedures; chan robles virtual law library

(12) unrestricted use of consigned equipment; 

(13) employment of foreign nationals;

(14) tax credit for taxes and duties on raw materials; 

(15) access to bonded manufacturing/traded warehouse system; 

(16) exemption from taxes and duties on imported spare parts; and

(17) exemption from wharfage dues and any export tax, duty, impost and fee. 

(a) In case of abolition, the department or agency established to replace the abolished department or agency shall take-over the functions under this Act of the abolished department or agency. chan robles virtual law library

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(b) In case the department or agency tasked with the enforcement or formulation of rules, regulations and guidelines for implementation of this Act is merged with another department or agency, the former shall continue the functions under this Act of the merged department or agency.chanrobles virtual law library 

(c) In case of modification, the department or agency modified shall continue the functions under this Act of the department or agency that has undergone the modification.

(a) Denial of Right

(1) Duty to Investigate — the Secretary of Justice shall investigate alleged violations of this Act, and shall undertake periodic reviews of compliance of covered entities under this Act.

(b) Potential Violations — If the Secretary of Justice has reasonable cause to believe that —

(1) any person or group of persons is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination under this Act; or 

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(2) any person or group or persons has been discriminated against under this Act and such discrimination raises an issue of general public importance, the Secretary of Justice may commence a legal action in any appropriate court.chanrobles virtual law library 

(a) granting temporary, preliminary or permanent relief; chan robles virtual law library

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(b) providing an auxiliary aid or service, modification of policy, practice or procedure, or alternative method; and 

(c) making facilities readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. 

(1) for the first violation, a fine of not less than Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) but not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than six (6) months but not more than two (2) years, or both at the discretion of the court; and 

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(2) for any subsequent violation, a fine of not less than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) but not exceeding Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00) or imprisonment for not less than two (2) years but not more than six (6) years, or both at the discretion of the court.chanrobles virtual law library