January 2019
FWD, Doing Things Right
Story by: Ar. Bryan Carlo T. Yu, UAP, RMP
The UAP Makati CBD has always been active in supporting
PWDs. With the leadership of chapter president, Ar. Mike
Lazo, and the wise counsel of Ar. Jaime Silva, along with
assistance of board director Ar. Bryan Yu and chapter
member Ar. Philip Ordonez, Makati CBD led the Accessibility
Audit of the offices of FWD Insurance in W Fifth Avenue
Building, at 5th Avenue corner 32nd Street, BGC, Taguig
City on January 28, 2019.
Joining the CBD architects in the Accessibility Audit were
FWD’s Humanity and Inclusion representative, Krystel
Tolentino; Legal & Compliance representative, Atty. Teroy
Roman; People and Culture officer, Joena Gerundiano; and
FWD’s officers in their Corporate Facilities Department.
The audit focused not only on the premises of the FWD
offices at the 9th and 19th floor, but also the access ways
to their offices, beginning from the building lobby itself, the
basement parking, and also all the way to the sidewalk entry
at the exterior of the W Fifth Avenue Building.
As with CBD’s standard practices in Accessibility Audits,
the group carefully inspected FWD’s and the building’s
facilities based on four key accessibility features namely:
1) Accessible Ramps, 2) Signages, 3) PWD Toilets, and
4) PWD Parking Slots. Upon inspection, it is evident that
FWD and W Fifth Avenue Building already applied the
most common key accessibility features.
Most toilets have PWD facilities and most PWD areas
have PWD signages. However, thanks to the scrutiny of
the architects present, it is made clear that there remain
opportunities for improvement and optimization. But all-
in-all, Makati CBD lauds FWD for its initiative in providing
a more inclusive environment for all their employees,
most especially the differently-abled.
Although the country still has a long way to go in terms
of awareness and actual support for PWD laws and
guidelines, it is good that international companies and
the BPO industry, being practitioners of international
workforce welfare practices, actively participate in
improving their spaces for the betterment of PWDs.