Accessibility
Ramps
How accessible is accessible? As I mentioned, I am a paraplegic, and
very well capable of handling my situation with the bare minimum of third
parties help. This means that what I personally find wheelchair accessible
is not necessarily accessible to a motorized chair or a person with limited
arm functions. For example, a ramp might be too steep or too narrow for
someone else, and since there are no official standards applicable in
the Philippines, the building of ramps or toilets is done however the
builder feels it can be done, resulting in a wide variety of disabled
ramps and other accessories.
Another obstacle is the habit of parking vehicles in front of sidewalk
ramps or blocking access to an entrance with parked motorcycle. And often
the security guards use the ramps as a place to position their wooden
desks, so that it must be moved out of the way before you can enter a
building. And to top it off the bases of ramps often have a depression
that flood during rains and forces you to wheel through a puddle of green
slimy water. But what the hell, you don't have to sweep the floors, do
you.
Toilets
This very important detail deserves its own chapter. In bigger cities like
Cebu, you'll find a bathroom spacious enough eventually. The most convenient
ones are located at Ayala Center, SM Mall too has designated disabled toilets,
not quiet as clean though as Ayalas. Junkfood restaurants are your next
choice, the international chains as well as the local ones usually have
clean disabled toilets. You may have to move some cleaning equipment out
of the way before entering though. All bigger hotels are a good way too
for a visit to the loo, usually clean with enough space.
As an alternative you could try hospitals, Cebu Doctors is not a good choice,
there are no public handicap bathrooms, better is Chong Hwa and LH Prime.
If you can't find any comfort room, do it as the locals do, find a quiet
corner in the open air toilet, less germs there anyway.
Especially during trips to the province you'll find acceptable toilets rather
rare, the only alternatives are Beach Resorts of higher standards.
The law
For those interested, there is a national law implementing and regulating
the building of handicap accessible buildings.
Accessibility Law (Batas Pambansa Bilang 344).
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