Aquino urged to certify as urgent Solo Parents Welfare Act
A senior administration lawmaker yesterday urged President Aquino to certify as urgent the Solo Parents Welfare Act of 2012 seeking to give relief to 13.9 million single parents.
You Against Corruption and Poverty (YACAP) partylist Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez, principal author of House Bill 6184, believes the President would support the bill that aims to grant single parents, guardians or foster parents wide-ranging benefits because of their huge responsibility in society.
“We must remember that our People Power icon and the late President Corazon Aquino herself became virtual solo parent following the assassination of former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983. We can therefore say her son, President Aquino, clearly understands the enormous challenges facing single parents who are raising their families by themselves,” Lopez said.
Last week, the House approved on third and final reading HB 6184 amending the Solo Parent Welfare Act of 2000, which seeks to give wider assistance and relief to single parents who are considered “the most vulnerable members of society.”
The expanded benefits provided for single parents include housing, comprehensive package of social benefits, flexible work schedule, parental leave, educational benefits or scholarships, among others.
Additional benefits to be enjoyed by single parents include 10 percent discount on children’s clothing materials for all purchases made within two years from the birth of the child; 15 percent discount on baby’s milk and food supplements in the first two years of a child; and 15 percent discount on all purchases of medicine and other medical supplements or supplies.
“We humbly ask the President to certify the passage of the Amended Solo Parents Welfare Act as urgent to give millions of solo parents and their families the chance to enjoy the economic prosperity that the whole country is now beginning to experience under the Aquino administration,” said Lopez, a single parent herself.
Senators Edgardo Angara and Francis Escudero have filed counterpart bills in the Senate.
Under the House bill, single parents who avail of benefits under the proposed law shall submit or present the solo parent identification card and the birth certificate of the child or other evidence of entitlement to government agencies or commercial establishments.
The measure provides that corporation or business establishments that give a discount to the single parent shall be entitled to claim the discount given as business expenses subject to proper recording and recommendation.
The bill provides penalties of up to P200,000 and imprisonment of not less than one year for those violating the bill.
Zamboanga Rep. Seth Frederick Jalosjos, Manila Rep. Ma. Theresa Bonoan-David, and Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara are among the co-authors of the bill.