EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES First Regular Session ) ) ) ^ of lljr ^ k 'c r r tn r ji SENATE S. N o. 855 '19 AUG-5 PI :45 R E C E lV iu <yi. Introduced by SENATOR LEILA M. DE LIMA AN ACT INSTITUTING A NATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM FOR THE PREVENTION, EARLY DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT OF PERSONS WITH AUTTSM AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND FOR OTHER P U m ,OSES Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled: Section i. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Integrating Persons 1 2 with Autism and other Developmental Disabilities (IPADD) Act of 2019”. 3 Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State to 4 protect and promote the right to health of the people, including the rights of persons 5 with developmental disabilities to full, healthy and holistic development. As such, the 6 State shall promote an environment conducive to the development of persons with 7 developmental disabilities to become, to the best of their potentials, independent, 8 self-reliant and productive members of society. 9 Towards this end, the State commits itself to the establishment of institutional 10 and social mechanisms to support children and adult persons with developmental 11 disabilities and their families. In this light, the State shall institutionalize a holistic 12 program for persons with developmental disabilities in the country that will be 13 sensitive to their needs for purposes of empowering and providing them quality of 14 life. Sec. 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act, the following terms shall 15 16 mean: