SORIANO, Andrea S.

BSN-III Benner

Reflective Journal Regarding the Deaf Community during the COVID19 Crisis

Today we are all suffering from the massive spreading of covid19 in our society,

we are bombarded in what are we going to do in this time of crisis and what are the

rules and regulations implemented by our government to us. Many of us are now

agonizing from this situation, we heard all over the news that most of our netizens today

are no work no pay and have no source of living and hoping only for the help of

supplemental social amelioration program of LGUs. We are able to get to know these

news through the help of our broadcast network programs through the method of

communication. In the process of communication, the content of our discourse verbal

interchange ideas. It considers all the parts of our messages in order for us to

understand the whole message. Communication is import to us to be aware of what is

happening in our surroundings, but how can we explain these to those people who has

disabilities, the forgotten victims of the pandemic: the deaf/mute community.

Communication barriers amplify global health emergencies like the pandemic for

people who are deaf/mute. The virus doesn’t discriminate among people. Our response

must not either, us Filipinos must stop making fun of them. As the covid19 crisis

expand, persons with disabilities deaf/mute and with low immune systems making them

the most prone in our society. This led to the deaths of many Filipino PWDs and with
low immune system. Deaf/mute community dying through the expose of virus in

hospitals because of unpreparedness of our government for emergency responses.

Those are the result of negligence of the authorities to act and help our forgotten

victims. It also led a direct call of improvement to help PWDs to access to personal

protective equipments and meliorate the virus control by implementing a government

emergency program not just the Bayanihan to heal as one act of Republic Act 11469.

Our government should make Filipino Sign Language second language to give

assistance to our deaf/mute. Filipino sign language interpreters that are found in

television news are doing a significant role to provide the important announcements to

them. It also come into my attention that when our President Rodrigo Duterte is making

a live press briefing from Malacañang there is no Filipino sign language interpreter in

the bottom right of the screen to deliver the information to the Filipino deaf community.

There should be Filipino sign language interpretation at every press briefings specially

coming from our government is their right to be educated, informed and implicit in their

journey as a deaf/mute citizen. If deaf/mute person need to go to hospital for an

emergency they are unable to communicate well thus this leads to confusion.

Communication through writing on pen and paper back and forth, lip reading and

gestures. None of these are akin to a well knowledgeable in Filipino sign language.

Healthcare facilities can provide or penetrate sure enough communication is to hire and

support deaf professionals, who are able to provide linguistically appropriate services.

Same with health workers should take some basic sign language training to

communicate better with hearing impaired Pinoys. If and when health crisis in our

country resolved, there should be government provided policy for the care of persons
with disabilities to deal with different situations specially in heavy situations. There

should be a law for the request in favour benefit of persons with disabilities to afford

modernize technology and use it to make their life ease. There should be database or

information to them in which we have proper knowledge or study of persons with

disabilities that are linked with our different government agencies to help them, these

are the Philhealth, Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Social Welfare and

Development (DSWD). There should be special training for the educators to provide

good education to deaf, mute and persons with disabilities children in classrooms

processes.

Person with disabilities, deaf and mute are the forgotten silent individuals in our

society. They shouldn’t be discriminated by their own capabilities. We all have our

human right and PWDs are also human who have the liberty to live in peace with ease

of their safety and security.