Woman born without lower legs is barred from entering government office for wearing shorts

A Filipino woman who was born without lower legs due to a congenital disorder says she was barred from entering a government office for wearing shorts last week.

Nancy Boroc, 27, took to Facebook on Aug. 6 to share the distressing incident, which took place at the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) office in Calbayog City, located in the province of Samar, Philippines.

Boroc claims she went to the BIR with her sister to submit a document, when a security guard told her that "people wearing shorts are not allowed inside because of a new memorandum," according to local outlet Coconuts Manilla.

When Boroc noted that her disability prevented her from wearing pants, the guard allegedly wouldn't budge.

"He knows I don't have feet and I can only wear shorts because I'm a PWD (person with a disability)," Boroc wrote on Facebook. "How can I wear long pants? What can they not understand?"

"We were really shocked," she told the BBC in a subsequent interview, adding that the exchange left her feeling not "accepted" in her own country.

Boroc's viral post has racked up over 10,000 reactions, many of them angry, and over 5.5K shares from people around the world.

Ultimately, she says, she hopes her experience can serve to spread "awareness" about the "reality" people with disabilities face every day.

"Im [sic] not posting to rant, but to let people know about our daily life struggles and situations," she explained. "We are PWD and same as normal people, we have rights and privileges and exemptions."