For the first time in its list of sign language training given to various companies and government agencies, MCCID held its workshop online.
As part of their celebration of National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week, the Museum Services Division of the National Museum of the Philippines conducted an online seminar via Zoom Cloud Meeting Application on July 21-23, 2021.
Dubbed “Inclusivity in the Museum: Understanding and Addressing the Needs of Museum Visitors with Disability”, the Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas intends to equip their personnel on how to handle sectors with special needs. They also formed their “Universal Access Committee” headed by Ms. Ma. Belen V. Fabunan, to handle concerns related to this.
The agency coordinated with National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), the national body tasked with monitoring disability-related activities and assigned in-house resource speakers to provide insights on specific sectors. Ms. Jonalyn Lucas, talked about the needs of the blind while Mr. Randy Calsena lectures about the concerns of persons with autism. As for the deaf sector, Ms. Mojaira Dela Cruz explained about their reasonable accommodation.
On the third day, MCCID Training Director Jojo Esposa Jr. conducted a sign language webinar with nearly 90 employees of the museum. He first introduced what sign language is and focused on the use of Filipino Sign Language as mandated by the law. He also enumerated the specific needs of deaf persons in accessing museum services based on his experience when interpreting for deaf students as part of its Visual Idea Presentation subject.
Sir Jojo then continued with teaching fingerspelling to the participants. Lastly, he selected commonly used polite expressions to be taught in sign language. In order to address the difficulty in viewing signs on a very small monitor, the participants were grouped in batches.
The National Museum of the Philippines (Filipino: Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas) is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines including ethnographic, 
anthropological, archaeological, and visual arts collections. Since 1998, the National Museum has been the regulatory and enforcement agency of the Government of the Philippines in the restoring and safeguarding of important cultural properties, sites, and reservations throughout the Philippines.
The National Museum operates the National Museum of Fine Arts, National Museum of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, and National Planetarium, all located in the National Museum Complex in Manila. The institution also operates branch museums throughout the country.
Visit their official website at www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph
Special thanks to Ms. Geneva Oaferina of the Museum Services Division for her personal invite to MCCID.
