The Wheelchair Assistance Program is one initiative of the Office of the Vice President.

Recently, the OVP-Southern Mindanao Satellite Office traveled to North Cotabato to hand over wheelchairs to students with mobility disabilities.

The office collaborated with the Department of Education Cotabato to identify the beneficiaries.

“In the Department of Education specifically dito rin po sa SDO-Cotabato, we have our SNED coordinator or Special Needs Education where we are catering different students with disabilities, so how to identify, through our SNED focal person so nag coordinate po tayo sa ating mga supervisors and our school heads kung sino po ‘yung mga learners natin na may disability specifically needing wheelchairs so through our SNED coordinator and the coordination with the school heads, na-identify po natin ‘yung ating mga beneficiaries ng wheelchair,” (In the Department of Education, specifically here in SDO-Cotabato, we have our Special Needs Education (SNED) coordinator, who focuses on serving students with disabilities. To identify learners with disabilities, particularly those who need wheelchairs, we coordinate with our supervisors and school heads through our SNED focal person. By working with the school heads, we have successfully identified the beneficiaries who require wheelchairs,) Ivy Joy Comidoy, SEPS-Social Mobilization and Networking, DepEd Cotabato said.

The office visited 14 schools across different municipalities of North Cotabato.

“It is very important to provide the needs of our learners specially those who have special needs and disabilities kasi nga hindi lahat po ng ating mga mag-aaral ay capable ‘yung mga magulang nila, capable of buying things na need talaga nila para ma-address ‘yung kanilang mga disability like the wheelchair kasi hindi iyon priority kasi nga merong mga kakulangan ng mga finances this initiative is very important kasi through the free wheelchair and the partnership with the Office of the Vice President nabigyan ng wheelchair ‘yung ating mga learners at tsaka magagamit nila sa araw-araw na pagpasok sa paaralan,” (It is crucial to meet the needs of our learners, especially those with special needs and disabilities. Not all our students have parents who can afford the necessary equipment to address their disabilities, such as wheelchairs. For many families, these items are not a priority due to financial constraints. This initiative is very important because, through the provision of free wheelchairs and the partnership with the Office of the Vice President, our learners have received wheelchairs that they can use for their daily commute to school,) Ivy Joy Comidoy, SEPS-Social Mobilization and Networking, DepEd Cotabato said.

In total, the office has distributed 22 wheelchairs to the student beneficiaries.