This still up on Hulagway ug Kasikas sa Dumaguete Hulagway ug Kasikas sa Dumaguete September 8 #DumagueteSpeak #outMarkCohen DECLARE MARK COHEN PERSONA NON GRATA Join the campaign: #outMarkCohen By: MG The City Government of Dumaguete must seriously consider declaring Mark Cohen persona non grata. Enough of this abuse and portrayal of Dumaguete as an overly backward city thats insensitive to the rights of PWDs. Lets not allow Dumaguete to be ruined by someone who out of nowhere suddenly makes a sensation of himself and a hero of PWDs. #outMarkCohen Declaring him persona non grata does not kill his advocacy. It only bolsters it as, as things are, the way he handles the situation is slowly displacing sympathy from PWDs. His inconsistency and irrationality make a service dog an irritant in society. #outMarkCohen Declaring him persona non grata reinforces our image as a University Town. It highlights the importance of processes and the availability of options and venues for proper redress. #outMarkCohen Declaring him persona non grata sets the record straight that we are not a city that is numb to the needs of PWDs, neither are we one that will allow anyone to capitalize on PWDs for personal gains. It does not mean that there isn’t room for us to do more for PWDs. But at least we are making progress — ramps installed to buildings, some schools now accepting children with disabilities, business establishments giving career opportunities for PWDs, and multi-sectoral support picking up for the promotion of PWD rights through education and awareness campaigns. In fact Dumaguete is home to an organization, GPRehab, that pioneers the Top 10 Outstanding PWDs Awards in Negros Oriental. WHO IS MARK COHEN? He is from Canada, a place where people would like to retire in to for its excellent healthcare benefits for the old and the PWDs. Yet its citizen came to Dumaguete sometime end-July, a few weeks after Dumaguete was ranked one of the world’s top destinations for retirement. He claims to have gone to Nicaragua, Panama and Chile before the Philippines. In Chile, in April this year, a similar incident took place. A supermarket refused him access with his dog Happy. The video of that incident, which was also picked up by media shows Mark Cohen doing the same thing he did at Robinsons after he was not allowed to enter: sit down on the floor. (In Robinsons, he caused doors to be closed to customers because he lied down on the floor with his dog.) Understandably, the public came to his rescue. Note: Mark Cohen asked for copies of his media interviews on ABS and GMA. For what purpose? Perhaps documentation to give more credibility to his cause. Mark Cohen and Panama A concerned member of the community uncovered a message he sent on October 3, 2007 expressing interest to stay in Panama and “apply for extended Tourist Pensionado status and not have to leave Panama every 30 days for a 3 day period.” In the same post, the same sender named Mark Cohen introduced himself further: “I have a disability that necessitates me having a certified Guide Dog for the BLIND which travels everywhere with me.” What happened in Panama? Why did he describe his dog as “for the blind” — in the same way that some people thought he was when he just lied down by the door of Robinsons with his dog? He was challenged on his FB page to explain about the Panama message. Did he answer? No. WHEN DID MARK COHEN JOIN FACEBOOK? Does it matter? Yes. # 1 - Mark Cohen joined Facebook on August 2, 2014, a few days before the incident, # 2 - His organization, the International Institute for Assistance Dog Training (IIADT), joined Facebook a few days earlier -- July 30 this year. He became its director, based on his FB page, between August 2, 2014 and August 19, 2014. # 3 - The organization, IIADT, maintains a website, iiadt. The website contains no more than 4 posts, with the first dated August 31, 2014. All 4 are by Mark Cohen and are about his encounters. There is nothing about the advocacy or any relevant information that can help the public understand more his disease and those of other PWDs. The first post was dated August 31, 2014. (Note: His organization is obviously concerned about “Training” dogs. Is this an advocacy organization? Perhaps it is. Is he going to offer free training? I can only compute, if the number of people that his issue has reached, would either avail or endorse the availment of training services.) # 4 - A story was picked up by Hulagway on August 15, 2014 about the incident at Robinsons where Mark Cohen was not granted access with his dog, Happy. # 5 - A few days later, the same story about his encounter at Robinsons went viral. # 6 - After the issue with Robinsons was resolved, it was Lee Plazas turn. WHAT IS HE SICK OF? Credits to Rappler: a “neurological disorder with variant symptoms similar to epilepsy, Parkinsonism, and sensitivity to changes in the environment such as temperature and intensity of light. Never mind if not everyone believes that he has this disease, or that he shouts at people who come to help him whenever he would sit or lie down on the floor whenever he says to be experiencing (or is expecting to experience) a seizure. Let’s assume it is what he claims it is. So let’s learn more about it: epda.eu/en/parkinsons/in-depth/parkinsonsdisease/parkinsonism/ When he was brought to a local hospital after he experienced a “seizure attack”, he posted a message on Facebook lambasting the hospital. He called on the public to help him as he accused the hospital staff of not attending to him and one suggesting that he leave instead for he does not have “socialized medicine”. Flat lie. Photo of that incident — thanks to his sudden popularity — showed him talking with a doctor and some medical personnel. The day after that incident, he then posted on Facebook, after people already got irritated by him, that he has been receiving death threats and has employed security to guard him 24/7. I just hope the turn of events has not taken a toll on his mental/psychological capacity. WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY? There is no law in the Philippines on service or assistance dogs being required entry with their PWD-owners. But while there is none, it does not mean that there are no available options that help ensure their mobility around public areas, neither does it make the community insensitive. In first word countries, there are relevant laws involving service animals. These are developed countries where PWDs have access to support and subsidies for acquiring service animals that cost thousands of dollars. Let us be one in calling on the City Government of Dumaguete to declare Mark Cohen persona non grata. This, among others, is an effective way of earning the same media mileage to clear up the name of Dumaguete. #outMarkCohen *Chiquiting
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 06:07:15 +0000
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