House bill vs deadbeat fathers reaches appropriations committee
MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives committee on appropriations is assessing the funding needed to establish a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) office to oversee the implementation of House Bill (HB) 8987 or Act Ensuring Child Support and Penalizing Parental Refusal or Neglect Thereof.
The Committee on Welfare of Children has approved the bill that proposes a penalty of up to six years of imprisonment for deadbeat fathers.
It was agreed during the hearings that the financial support fathers must provide will depend on the child’s needs.
READ: VAWC and child support
The law will mandate the DSWD, in collaboration with the National Economic and Development Authority, to determine the amount of child support.
READ: Raffy Zamora appeals to fathers to forge strong bonds with kids
Article continues after this advertisement“Kailangang kailangan na natin itong batas na ito. Kailangang maparusahan ang mga tatay na ayaw bigyan ng suporta ang kanilang mga anak lalo na kapag iniwan na niya ang kanyang pamilya,” House Deputy Majority Leader and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo, one of the bill’s authors, said in a news release Sunday.
Article continues after this advertisement(We really need this kind of proposed law. Fathers who refuse to support their children must be punished, especially those who abandoned their family.)
“Nagpapasalamat tayo sa ating mga kasamahan sa Kongreso sa pag-usad nitong panukalang batas pero sana ay mas madaliin pa ito para tuluyan nang mapanagot ang mga walang pusong ama na tinalikuran ang kanilang mga sariling anak,” Tulfo said.
(We thank our colleagues in Congress for pushing this proposed measure but we hope for more pressure to it to finally hold these heartless fathers who abandoned their children.)
The bill said mothers raising their children alone, numbering around 15 million, will no longer have to beg or plead with their ex-partners or the fathers of their children for financial support.