Educational exclusion of persons with disabilities in the Philippines: documentary narratives and the challenges of inclusive education governance

Despite comprehensive disability rights legislation and inclusive education policies in the Philippines, cases of prolonged educational exclusion among persons with disabilities (PWDs) continue to emerge. Documentary investigations have exposed individuals experiencing extreme domestic confinement, absence from schooling, and limited access to educational and support services, revealing persistent gaps between policy commitments and implementation. This study examines how documentary narratives portray educational exclusion, identify contributing structural and familial factors, reference disability rights and inclusive education frameworks, and depict institutional responses to deprivation. Using a meaning-centered qualitative content analysis of five investigative documentaries, the study analyzed representations of educational access, governance dynamics, and post-exposure intervention. Findings indicate that educational exclusion is constructed as a multidimensional process encompassing physical confinement, social isolation, institutional neglect, and disrupted access to educational opportunities. Exclusion was associated with intersecting factors including poverty, limited access to special education and mental health services, caregiver burden, stigma, and weak monitoring mechanisms. The findings further reveal that institutional responses were largely reactive, with intervention typically occurring only after media exposure. Documentary narratives therefore position media visibility as a form of reactive accountability infrastructure that temporarily exposes governance failures without addressing the structural conditions that sustain educational exclusion. The study highlights the need for proactive identification of at-risk learners, strengthened inter-agency coordination, expanded school-based support services, and sustained governance mechanisms capable of translating disability rights into meaningful educational inclusion.