Person with Disability (PWD) Philippines, a non-government organization representing Filipino individuals with disabilities, called out Metro Manila actor Juan Miguel Rodriguez on Tuesday for having accused kids of “using fake disabled IDs” to access the priority lane at the recently opened Shake Shack in Taguig City.
Rodriguez’s Facebook post said: “Shame on you kids using fake disabled IDs to use the priority lane at Shake Shack. I’m so jealous of you LOL. PS if they’re not in a wheelchair… don’t allow them!”
The actor has since deleted the post, but PWD Philippines posted a screenshot of his original post, which was shared by a woman named Celine Palafox.
Palafox, who identified herself as a mother of a PWD, responded to the actor with a post of her own, asking him: “How sure are you that they were ‘faking’ their disability?”
She went on to say that although her son’s disability isn’t visible, being able to have access to a priority lane is part of his “right and privileges.” “Let’s not be too quick to judge please,” she added.
Following these public posts, PWD Philippines made its own statement in Filipino, saying: “For those who don’t understand, being a PWD doesn’t necessarily mean you are wheelchair-bound.”
Rather, the post explained, there are two types of PWDs: “Those with apparent disabilities, such as those that are wheelchair-bound and non-apparent disabilities, such as those who have epilepsy, stroke and cancer survivors, lupus, etc.”
“We hope Mr. JM Rodriguez will better understand this. You cannot fake a PWD ID that easily because the DOH (Department of Health) has a database that monitors all those who have an ID.”
For those who may want to read up on that, PWD Philippines published this article in November 2017 explaining what it takes to qualify for and obtain a PWD ID. According to Dr. Myla Rostrata of the Department of Health in Region 3, the seven categories of disabilities are visual impairment, hearing loss, orthopedic disability, learning disability, psychosocial disability, chronic illness and mental disability.
PWD Philippines’ Facebook post addressing JM Rodriguez’s statements has garnered over 1,600 reactions and 1,400 shares as of this article’s posting.
Netizens like Roy Paolo Abalos, who described himself as a healthy PWD who is not wheelchair-bound, said: “People like him need to be educated.”
Jaidz Cruzado Zoilon said: “The community should be aware that physical disability isn’t the only type of disability.”
Jojo Terencio said: “He got embarrassed that’s why I think he deleted the post. Too late [though] there is such a thing as screenshots. [And there’s] not even an apology [from him]? Tsk tsk. I’m a PWD and I am not on wheelchair. I even do 10k race[s]!”
Ekong Caruncho, also a PWD, said that he uses the card for safety purposes: “I, for one, should not be exposed to crowds, especially the cramped ones, so I use the card, not for entitlement but for my own safety.”
Coconuts Manila has reached out to Rodriguez for additional comment, but did not receive a response by the time of this article’s publication.
