The discriminatory case against  a Qatar-bound Deaf Pinoy OFW whose work contract schedule was disrupted due to his failed interview with the local immigration is one of the concerns of a training of Deaf Human Rights and Legal Access (HRLA).

In March 7 to 9, 2011, a video-conference involving the Knowledge for Development Centers of Naga, Camarines Sur and Ortigas, Manila was held, dubbed as Deaf HRLA Training.  As the training title suggests, it aims to provide a legal and operational framework on which the justice system can be made accessible to the Deaf.

Anchored at KDC-Ortigas were Dr. Liza Martinez, the Executive Director of the Philippine Deaf Resource Center and Mr. Raphael Domingo, key resource persons of the seminar-workshop, with  case monitoring presentation co-facilitated by Atty. Milabel Cristobal. At KDC-Naga, AdNU Librarian Edna San Buenaventura moderated the activity and USIC Chairperson Atty. Mila Raquide-Arroyo gave the Welcome Remarks.   A panel of judges at KDC-Ortigas provided critique to team presentations on a selected case and local action plan.  Sign language interpreters and heads of Deaf-assisting NGOs and education centers facilitated vital communication on both sites of the conference for both the hearing and deaf participants, particularly during the open forum after each major topic. As in KDC-Davao, KDC-Naga was jam-packed in the morning sessions with the presence of SpEd student/participant-observers from the Naga City SpEd center.

The training module comprised group workshops to facilitate a field visit at the Naga City Police Stations, team creative presentation advocacy and local planning, and video shows about Human Rights of the Deaf and cases involving them.  

The participants visited in droves the Barlin, Concepcion, and Peñafrancia police stations to check cases involving the Deaf and local access for the Deaf in said stations.  Participants talked to the police officers, introduced the deaf organizations, and the advocacy for the legal rights of the Deaf.  From here,  each group selected a case which they worked on and present in plenary, employing methods on how to inform, educate, and advocate for the Deaf about the identified and selected case, including what they would do as a victim or complainant.   

The video films tackled the necessity of Access to the Justice System for the Deaf through proper accommodation on the justice system, i.e., providing interpreters and facilities that will ease  consultation on the criminal, civil, and administrative justice system; and labor issues like proper wage levels and other pertinent labor rights accorded for the Deaf.  The video  also featured the difference between a Deaf and a deaf, the Deaf culture, their folklore, norms, their music and their entire lives; and as more of a medical pathological term pertaining to hearing impaired people.

In the course of discussions, bills hashed in Philippine Congress were presented as efforts  to  respond to the “challenges faced by deaf complainants for accommodations in legal proceedings, making experts and special investigators Deaf-friendly, and examining court procedures to accommodate them; widespread training for the judges, police officers and removal of physical or communication barriers, providing accessibility to courtrooms, hospitals and other related facilities.”  

Positive declaration such as Magna Carta 7277 and the modifications therein were necessitated by numerous cases involving the abuse of the rights of the Deaf.  The articles in it are on access to court and the freedom of speech that should be enjoyed by the Deaf person, access to equal justice, including the government providing appropriate training for police and prison staff.  The need for a clear language policy in the context of Deaf education to mainstream the use of the Filipino Sign Language used by the Deaf community as primary language and Filipino or English as the second language was also emphasized.

Further inputs provided were on  the essential rights of and skills needed by a paralegal team for human rights and legal access, Visual Communication Assessment for the Deaf (VCAD) Process, and Do`s and Don`ts in handling and interviewing a deaf victim of abuse.

The training also underscored the need to help the family, community, and private establishments in immediate environment of the Deaf by educating them not only to learn sign language but foremost to accept and support the Deaf as no different from hearing individuals. .

For KDC-Naga site, thirty six (36) hearing and deaf participants from the provinces of Sorsogon, Albay, Camarines Norte, and Camarines Sur fully attended the 3-day live-out training.  The attendees were a mixture of individuals and group representatives from non-government organizations directly or indirectly assisting the Deaf, SpEd teachers, local government unit social welfare office workers, local Persons with Disabilities organizations, and Deaf students/employees. Around twenty participants from KDC-Ortigas also provided counterpart audience in the conference.  

This training, funded by AusAid is the second of a series led by the Philippine Deaf Resource Center which tapped 7 of the KDCs in the country, primarily to mainstream development assistance for the Deaf.  Ateneo de Naga University houses in its library the KDC-Naga, not only as a regional depository of reference materials and hub for dialogues on social development issues and partnership-building, but also as a distance learning facility.