Parameters in hiring of Filipino sign language interpreter sought

April 16, 2022 Metro BLISTT

City officials directed the City Human Resource Management Office (CHRMO) and the Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO) to coordinate with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Civil Service Commission (CSC), and persons with disability organizations in the city and inquire on the technical parameters required in the hiring of the services of a Filipino sign language interpreter.
Under Resolution No. 133, series of 2022, city legislators stated that earlier Assistant City Human Resource Management Officer Edith B. Dawaten and Samuel Aquino, Disability Affairs Officer of the PDAO, submitted their comments, suggestions, and recommendations relative to the legislative monitoring and evaluation of Ordinance No. 86, series of 2019, which mandates the hiring of Filipino sign language interpreter to aid constituents with hearing impairments in the city during important and momentous public or city government events in a year.
Section 4 and 5 of the said Ordinance provide that for the first 3 years of the implementation of this measure, the services of a Filipino sign language interpreter may be engaged on an honorarium basis in accordance to DBM Circular on honoraria and as the need arises.
The council stipulated that the defined mode of securing the services of a Filipino sign language interpreter shall continue until the city government secures the approval of the DBM and the CSC on the creation of the plantilla position or the approval of the standards for Filipino sign language interpreting under Section 5 of Republic Act (RA) 11106.
The law further provides that the local PDAO may coordinate with the local deaf and mute community, accredited organizations promoting their welfare and interest, and the Filipino sign interpreters, for the technical parameters required of an interpreter to guide the office in contracting the services of the required interpreter, as well as guide the personnel evaluation board in the qualification and selection of a city Filipino sign language interpreter, as the case may be.
The body claimed it has been more than 3 years since the approval of the measure but the technical parameters for the hiring of the required Filipino sign language interpreter have not been realized, thus, the concerned offices need to get their acts together and work for the realization of the noble purpose of the approved ordinance.
Dexter A. See