BEYOND DISABILITY. Joanna Pearl Santos, digital marketing manager of Lapu-Lapu City based social media marketing firm Third Team Media, says PWDs should show everyone they can also work as well as anyone else.
Cebu-based PWDs share thoughts on their struggles to find a job
Words like “there is no vacancy,” “We’ll call you” and “the post you applied for is already filled” are a source of dread and disappointment for job seekers who are either fresh out of college or had just resigned from another job.
If a competitive job market makes it difficult for average persons to land a job, imagine how much tougher it is for persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Jaylinda Manatad, Bienvenido Capacion Jr. and Joanna Pearl Santos can attest to that fact, though Capacion was lucky enough to land a job on his first application.
Both Manatad and Capacion are employed at the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CCDRRMC) while Joanna Pearl Santos is a digital marketing manager at Third Team Media.
All three suffer from disabilities, and they each experienced being rejected by companies for their condition.
Difficult
Yet that didn’t stop them from applying to other companies and securing employment. The 20-year-old Manatad is born without a right leg and left arm.
The fourth of six children, Manatad works as a CCDRRMC staffer. Before that she worked several part-time jobs to support herself and her family.
“Discrimination is the number one reason why people like me are not accepted in a job. I tried applying for a job in a mall as a sales lady but I was rejected because it would be difficult for me to carry things,” Manatad said in Cebuano.
Her fellow worker, 25-year-old Capacion Jr., is a graphic designer and the younger of two children. He graduated with an information technology (IT) degree.
For her part, the 23-year-old Santos has a congenital hearing disability and can’t hear anything without her hearing aid.
Only a challenge
An only child, Santos got rejected several times before she became a digital marketing manager of the Lapu-Lapu City based Third Team Media, an online marketing firm.
All three said they continue to overcome their disabilities through the power of their minds. “Ang among pagka-disable is amoa rang lawas kay ang among utok kay naa may kakayahan nga muhimo parehas sa inyoha (We are only physically-disabled but our minds have the capacity to do the things that others can do),” Manatad said.
Capacion said his speech problems are a part of him and he learned to live with it. Santos admitted that her hearing disability sometimes makes it hard for her to listen to what her clients say.
Manatad, Capacion, and Santos all count family as their inspiration, with Manatad saying she is working hard so she can support herself and her family when the time comes to retire.
“This is only a challenge, I can do this. If they can do it, why can’t I?,” Manatad said. She said she keeps reminding herself that whenever she feels tempted to give up.
Capacion said his faith in God sustains him while Santos, the sole breadwinner in her family, said she cannot let her disability stop her from dreaming and working for a better future for herself and her loved ones.
“God said ‘Work and I will help you,’ even if you have a physical disability, if you can work, you should work,” Manatad said in Cebuano and Capacion agreed.
Santos said PWDs should rise above their condition if they are to survive in a world that doesn’t wait on them or anyone else.
“Go beyond your current capabilities and show everyone you can do what others are able to do.” Santos told Cebu Daily News.