PHILCODE
The Philippine Council of Organizations on Disability and Empowerment is a non profit umbrella organization with members legally registered in the Philippines, either as associations or foundations with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or as primary cooperatives with the Cooperative Development Authority. Its members organizations offer programs and services to persons with disabilities such as Residential Homes, Livelihood Activities, Medical Assistance, Formal and Non-Formal Education and those that promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in general services available to the community.
Brief History
Philippine Council of Organizations on Disability and Empowerment Inc.
PHILCODE Inc.
The Founder: Sr. Ma. Paula Valeriana Baerts, ICM
On February 7, 1958, a young Belgian came to the Philippines to become a missionary. Sr. Valeriana Baerts has devoted her life in the service of Filipino Persons with Disabilities.
The Mother Superior of St. Theresa's College Quezon City first assigned her to the National Orthopedic Hospital in Banawe, Quezon City to take care of the orthopedically impaired, especially, those left by their families in the hospital. Through the help of civic-minded Filipinos, she started establishing homes for the abandoned, indigent ortho-impaired patients of the hospital. Through the years, she established more homes in different parts of the country, necessitating the creation of a Council to supervise the homes. This is the forerunner of the Philippine Council of Cheshire Homes for the Disabled, Inc.
On the occasion of her 86th birthday last August 5, 2014,the Sr. Valeriana Baerts Educational, Leadership, and Empowerment Scholarship was launched to promote capacity building among organizations for Persons with Disabilities by providing academic and training opportunities for Persons with Disabilities affiliated with the organization and their family members.
Programs and Services
Resource Mobilization
As a resource agency, PhilCODE's foremost function is to give educational, health, managerial, technical and policy assistance to member organizations in their effort to provide effective and efficient services to persons with disability
Capacity Building
Part of the mission of PhilCODE is the empowerment of pwds through the organizations devoted to pwds. It accomplishes this by offering capacity building seminars and workshops for leaders, emerging leaders and individual members of its affiliate organizations.
Advocacy & Research
As with other NGOs for the disabled, PhilCODE actively participates in the advocacy movement for the disabled by championing the causes of the disability sector in the areas of education, health and economic empowerment. To participate in awareness arising on issues on disability, it has a PWD Advocacy and Research arm. It operates a Disability Resource Library and collaborates with other NGOs, academic institutions on research efforts on disability. It promotes involvement in councils/ advisory bodies on disability.