When a child is asked in school to draw a family—the picture would invariably include a father, mother, brother(s), sister(s) and sometimes a pet, under a house with a roof surrounded by petalled flowers or coconut trees. This is a child’s concept of a family. In fact, this is most
everyone’s concept of a family. And there lies the core of the problem of the “solo parent”.
Until November 7, 2000, with the enactment into law of Republic Act (RA) 8972, known as the “Solo Parent’s Welfare Act of 2000,” the “family” as a unit did not conceive a solo parent with children. RA 8972 now provides that family shall refer to the solo parent and his/her child/children. A solo parent is any individual who falls under any of the following categories:
- A woman who gives birth as a result of rape or crimes against chastity even without a final conviction of the offender: Provided, that the mother keeps and raises the child;
- Parent left solo or alone with the responsibility of parenthood;
- Due to death
- While the spouse is detained, or is serving sentence for a criminal conviction for at least one year;
- Due to physical and/or mental incapacity of spouse as certified by a public medical practitioner;
- Due to legal separation or de facto separation from spouse for at least one year; Provided, that he or she is entrusted with the custody of the children;
- Due to declaration of nullity or annulment of marriage as decreed by a court or by a church; Provided, that he/she is entrusted with the custody of the children;
- Due to abandonment of spouse for at least one year;
- Unmarried mother/father who has preferred to keep and rear her/his child/children, instead of having others care for them or give them up to a welfare institution;
- Any other person who solely provides parental care and support to a child or children provided he/she is duly licensed as a foster parent by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) or duly appointed legal guardian by the court;
- Any family member who assumes the responsibility of head of family as a result of the death, abandonment, disappearance or prolonged absence of the parents or solo parent; Provided that such abandonment, disappearance or absence lasts for at least one year. (RA 8972, implementing rules and regulations [IRR], Article III, Section 6 [b]).
“Children” refers to those living with and dependent upon the solo parent for support who are unmarried,
unemployed and below 18 years of age or even 18 years and above but are incapable of self-support and/or mentally and/or physically challenged (IRR, Section 6 [e]).
A comprehensive package of social development and welfare services for solo parents and their families is required under RA 8972 to be developed by the DSWD and other specified government agencies, in coordination with local government units (LGUs) and non-governmental organizations. This package shall include livelihood development services, counseling services, parent-effectiveness services, critical-incidence stress debriefing to assist solo parents in coping with crisis situations and cases of abuse, and special projects for individuals in need of protection (IRR, Section 15).
Employers are mandated to provide for a flexible work schedule for solo parents provided that the same shall not affect individual and company productivity. For employees in the government service, flexible working hours will be subject to the discretion of the head of agency (Section 16). No employer shall discriminate against any solo-parent employee with respect to terms and conditions of employment (Section 17). In addition to leave privileges under existing laws, parental leave of not more than seven working days every year (noncumulative) shall be granted for at least one year of service rendered (Section 18).
In addition, the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority shall provide scholarship program or nonformal education programs for solo parents and their children (Section 22). Solo parents who meet the eligibility for housing assistance shall be provided with liberal terms of payment on government low-cost housing projects, prioritizing
applicants below the poverty line (Section 23). The Department of Health (DOH) is, likewise, mandated to develop a comprehensive health-care/medical-services program for solo parents and their children through DOH retained hospitals and health units of LGUs (Section 25).
To avail yourself of all the foregoing benefits, the solo parent must be (1) a resident of the area where the assistance is sought as certified by the barangay captain and (2) with an income level equal to or below the poverty threshold as set forth by the National Statistical Coordination Board and assessed by a social worker (Section 8).
The Solo Parents Welfare Act of 2000 is a good law. But I have spoken before several barangays and met quite a considerable number of solo parents who complain that the law is not being implemented, either because of ignorance or incompetence at the barangay/LGU level, or because of lack of budget/resources of implementing agencies at the national level or because of lack of penal provisions in the law to jail and/or fine employers who violate.
There will be a surge in the number of solo parents in the coming years. A mother or father left alone with the responsibility of parenthood because the spouse had to seek employment abroad as an overseas Filipino workers for lack of jobs in this country; or a spouse widowed because of an extra-judicial killing or violent extremism; or a rise in the number of annulment or declaration of nullity of marriage cases or legal separations; or young girls impregnated as a result of rape or wanton sex.
It is time that we truly recognize that a solo parent is not half a parent. He/she bears the burden of the whole family and the full responsibility of parenthood.