Lumapas pushes P1,000 monthly honorarium for solo parents chapter heads
Mandaue City Councilor Jimmy Lumapas
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – Mandaue City Councilor Jimmy Lumapas is proposing the release of a P1, 000 monthly honorarium to the chapter presidents of the different solo parents associations in Mandaue City.
His proposal was contained in a draft ordinance that was passed on first reading by the City Council during its regular session on Monday, Sept. 25.
Mandaue City has 27 barangays with a solo parent association in each of these barangays. The city also has 1,650 registered solo parents to date.
Lumpas, the chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Social Service, said chapter presidents could use the honorarium for their fare and for the purchase of office supplies that they would need for their chapter’s regular meetings.
Chapter presidents were selected in an election that was held earlier in their respective barangays and under the supervision of the Solo Parents Office (SPO) at City Hall.
Aside from representing their chapters in meetings and other gatherings, chapter presidents are also tasked to help solo parents in their respective barangays to register with SPO.
Monthly honorarium
If Lumapas’ draft ordinance gets approved on third and final reading, the distribution of monthly honorarium to chapter presidents may already start in October.
Its allocation will be taken from the city’s general funds.
However, Lumapas’ ordinance said that that chapter presidents must be able to show proof of attendance in monthly meetings called by the SPO before they will qualify to claim the monthly honorarium.
They could also lose the honorarium if they fail to pay the membership fee collected by SPO and miss two of their monthly meetings. Another ground for the suspension of the honorarium is if they are convicted of a crime that involves moral turpitude, among others.
Indigent solo parents
Meanwhile, Lumapas said in an interview that he was also finding means to ensure the release of P1,000 monthly allowance to indigent solo parents.
He was referring to the implementation of the Solo Parents Cash Assistance Program that was provided for in RA No. 8972 or the Solo Welfare Welfare Act of 2000 and amended by Republic Act 11861 or the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act. The program was being administered by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Marilyn Estomago, 53, said that she was planning to reapply for solo parents’ registration.
Estomago, who has a 13-year-old daughter, said that she earlier applied for registration when she was still living in Barangay Maguikay. But her application was sent back to their barangay and she was told to wait for a call for an update on its status.
Although she now lives with a friend in the next barangay in Cabancalan, Estomago said, she was planning to reapply for registration in Barangay Maguikay.
Estomago, who was separated from her common-law partner about 10 years ago, said that she needed government assistance in order to overcome the difficulties that she was now faced with.
“Ako’ng panginabuhi panlabada ra, lisod kaayo. Tomboy ang nagtabang papuyo nako pero tiguwang naman siya,” said Estologo.
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