Pro-single parent ordinance pushed

A group of Quezon City councilors has drafted a measure that will provide more benefits and privileges to indigent single parents and their children.

Councilors Alexis Herrera, Julienne Alyson Rae Medalla, Raquel Malañgen and Lena Marie Juico said the proposed ordinance would protect solo parents from discrimination at work and provide them with free health services, educational scholarships as well as low-cost housing.

The “2013 Expanded Benefits and Privileges of Solo Parents and their Children” ordinance is the councilors’ version of the Solo Parents’ Welfare Act of 2000 which protects the welfare of single parents and their children, particularly those living below the poverty threshold.

Included in the measure is a penal provision which states that employers who do not comply with the measure and persons who abuse the benefits will face fines of up to P5,000, imprisonment of one year or both.

The proposed ordinance covers persons left with the sole responsibility of raising children because of the following reasons: the death or detention of a spouse or in cases of separation or abandonment. Also covered are women who keep babies born out of rape, persons who act as a foster parent and family members who assume the role of head of the family.

Under the ordinance, single parents who wish to avail of the benefits and privileges must apply for a solo parent identification card with proof that they are residents of Quezon City. The card must be signed by the city mayor and the local social services and development department.

Among the benefits are livelihood skills and basic business management training from the Sikap Buhay Entrepreneurship and Cooperative Office, which may also provide capital through a microcredit program, and inclusion in the job placement priority of the local Public Employment and Services Office.