Solo parents deserve bigger cash subsidy – Rep. Chan

Lapu-Lapu City Lone District Rep. Cindi Chan. | Contributed photo

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu – Solo parents, who are receiving minimum and below minimum wage, deserve more than the P1, 000 cash subsidy that is provided for in the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act.

This was according to Lapu-Lapu City Lone District Representative Cindi King-Chan.

Chan, who delivered a privilege speech during the “All Women Legislators Session” at the House of Representatives on Monday, said that they deserve more.

The conduct of the “All Women Legislators Session” was in celebration of National Women’s Month this March.

“I believe that everyone here will agree that such an amount, equivalent to P33.33 per day, is insufficient to cover the basic needs of solo mothers and their children,” she said.

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Social protection

The Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act that was signed into law by former President Rodrigo Duterte on June 4, 2022.

Chan lauds the passage of the law which provides better social protection services to solo parents.

These include livelihood development, counseling and parent effectiveness services; critical incidence stress debriefing; and targeted interventions for those needing protection.

The amended law also shortens the required employment period for those who would want to avail of parental leave for six months to one year.

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Educational benefits

The law mandates that DepEd, CHED, and TESDA provide scholarship opportunities to solo parents and for one child in institutions of primary, higher, and technical vocational skills education.

“RA 11861 also mandates the provision of social safety assistance such as food, medicines, and financial aid for domicile repair to solo parents and their children in times of disasters, calamities, pandemics, and other health crises,” Chan said in her speech.

Additional benefits provided under the law include the P1,000 monthly subsidy for those earning minimum or below minimum wage; 10 percent discount and exemption from the value-added tax on baby’s milk, food, micronutrient supplements, diapers, medicines, vaccines, and other medical supplements purchased for the use of a child or children who are below six years of age; automatic coverage under the National Health Insurance Program administered by PhilHealth; prioritization of solo parents, mainly solo mothers in re-entering the workforce, and their children as applicable, in apprenticeships, scholarships, livelihood training, among others.

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Strengthening opportunities

In January, Strengthening Opportunities for Lone Parents Program or Program SOLo was launched by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), with Lapu-Lapu City as one of the three pilot sites in the country.

The program aims to deliver the much-needed services to solo parents at the grassroots level, such as client-centered family case management and service delivery, establishment of parenting and emotional support systems, and promotion of developmental interventions for their children.

A World Health Organization-funded study that was conducted by the Department of Health (DOH) and the  University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health placed the number of solo parents at around 14 million, with 95% being women.