The province of Antique received 16 computer units from the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) expected to help in the online registration of persons with disabilities (PWDs) with the Philippine Registry for PWD (PR-PWD).

The computer units were turned over to their recipients in a ceremony held in Iloilo City on Wednesday.

Recipients included the Provincial Disability Affairs Office (PDAO) and social welfare and development offices of 15 municipalities that were not on the list of recipients last year.

This year’s recipients are the towns of Anini-y, Tobias Fornier, Hamtic, Sibalom, Valderrama, Patnongon, Barbaza, Bugasong, Caluya, Culasi, Laua-an, Libertad, Pandan, Sebaste, and Tibiao, while the municipalities of San Jose de Buenavista, San Remigio, and Belison received their units last year.

PDAO head Paolo Castillo, in an interview on Thursday, said the donation would hasten the online registration of the PWDs in the municipalities.

Currently, 8,456 PWDs in the province are registered with the PR-PWD out of the 14,739 who have been registered and issued identification cards by their respective municipalities.

“There are still then 6,283 PWDs who have not registered online because of the unavailability of the computer,” Castillo said.

Computers available at the municipal social welfare and development offices are used for other purposes, making it difficult for PWDs to use the machines for their online registration.

NCDA Executive Director Joniro F. Fradejas, in his message during the turnover, said PWDs have to be registered with the PR-PWD for them to get covered by the Universal Health Care Act and subsequently avail of the health insurance.

“NCDA is donating the computer units being aware of how much you need it,” Fradejas said.

The registration is also important for the NCDA to have an accurate number of PWDs in the country in anticipation of the national government’s plan to provide them with monthly subsidies. (PNA)