Solo parents seek more benefits

MANILA, Philippines—Solo parents are pushing for more benefits under the law to enable them to cope with the high cost of living and education of their children, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

More than 5,000 solo parents from different solo parent associations (SPAs) in Metro Manila, Bulacan, and Romblon, in coordination with the DSWD, attended the recent launching of the National Solo Parents Day at Quezon Memorial Circle.

The event, spearheaded by the Bulacan Confederation of Solo Parents Inc. and Nain Foundation, with the support of the DSWD, was called “Nag-iisang Ikaw” with the theme “Advancing Social Integration and Intergenerational Solidarity.”

The associations called for amendments to Republic Act 8972 or the Solo Parents Welfare Act of 2000 to include additional rights and benefits for solo parents.

They also asked for more benefits such as equal access to employment and educational opportunities, reduced income taxes for solo parents, discounts of at least 10 percent in the tuition of children of solo parents, the scrapping of the “no payment of tuition, no exam policy” of private schools, and scholarship programs for solo parents and their children.

The DSWD said that Confederation of Solo Parents, Inc. and Rowena Tiongson, head of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office of Bulacan, urged the solo parents to continue pushing for their rights and benefits as specified under RA 8972.

According to Lito Alcaraz, president of the Bulacan Confederation of Solo Parents Inc., the solo parents sector recognized the passage of House Bill 6184 in June 2012 which seeks to amend the law.

The bill provides additional benefits for solo parents such as discounts of 10 to 15 percent on milk, diapers, and vitamins, and reducing to six months the one-year waiting period for a separated or abandoned spouse to be declared a legitimate solo parent.

A group of solo parents from Romblon and from Barangay (village) Krus na Ligas, Quezon City said they joined the gathering in “to make our voices heard.”

The event highlighted the formal launching of the partnership between the Solo Parents Confederation of Bulacan, Inc. and Nain Foundation and the signing of the resolution “Declaring the Last Saturday of April as Solo Parents Day.”

Estelito Alcaraz, Lizel Po and Carina A. Javier, presidents of the Solo Parents Confederation of Bulacan, Nain Foundation, and the DSWD Central Office Solo Parents Group signed the resolution.

“We are hopeful that the National Solo Parents Day will become an annual event by virtue of a Presidential Proclamation to further strengthen advocacy on the rights and welfare of solo parents,” the leaders of the solo parents organizations,” they said.