Candle vendor relates struggle raising 10 kids

Jennifer Almirol earns P300 to P400 daily from selling candles at the Sto. Tomas de Villanueva church in barangay Pardo, Cebu City. She has 10 children.

“As a solo parent dili gyud lalim nga mag atiman ka ug anak. Pero agwanta lang gyud labi na ug daghan ang imong anak (It’s not easy to care for children. It’s even more so when you have many children),” she said during last Wednesday’s public hearing at the Cebu City Council.

The City Council was deliberating on a proposed ordinance by Councilor Gerardo Carillo that grants P5,000 aid allocation for single parents in keeping with the Solo Parents Act of 2000.

Almirol said she could use the money since it has been a tough nine years for her at making both ends meet.

She sets aside money to buy her candle materials and the rest is for the family’s daily upkeep.

Her estranged husband, Ronie, was jailed for seven years and left her to care for their nine children. On being released in 2011, Ronnie left her for another woman.

Almirol said she cohabited with Leonardo Bonghanoy sometime in 2006 who died from a vehicular accident that same year, leaving her pregnant.

She found work as a clerk in a car rental company before ending up selling candles.

Single parents are defined in Carillo’s draft ordinance to include any woman who gives birth as a result of rape or a parent (male or female) who is left to care for his/her child or children because of death, imprisonment or a spouse’s physical or mental incapacity.

Carillo’s ordinance require registration of single parents with the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) and the issuance of a solo parent ID.

Registered solo parents will undergo evaluation by DSWS to see if they meet the government’s poverty threshold in order to qualify for the P5,000 assistance.

Marie Bungato, executive director of the Cebu City Women and Family Affairs Commission, said only 631 single parents registered with the city last year.