DSWD working to unite Filipino children with their overseas parents for financial support

DSWD officer-in-charge Edu Punay. (Photo: Jean Mangaluz/INQUIRER.net)

MANILA, Philippines – To help Filipino families secure financial assistance from foreign or Filipino parents living overseas, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the University of the Philippines (UP) Law Center have joined hands to expedite the process.

The partnership was formed to accelerate the implementation of the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, according to the DSWD on Thursday.

“With this Convention in place, we will be able to assist the families to locate, apply, process, and claim child support for the left-behind child or children from his or her foreign parent or Filipino parent residing outside the Philippines,” DSWD Officer-in-Charge Eduardo Punay said during the signing ceremony.

The Convention allows Filipino families to turn to the DSWD for assistance in locating their foreign or Filipino spouse overseas in order to receive child support.

Likewise, foreign nationals may also seek aid from their respective central authorities in locating their Filipino or non-Filipino spouses allegedly residing in the Philippines for the provision of child support.

The UP Law Center pledged to help with applications that require further legal assistance.

The partnership was sealed through the ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Agreement on Jan. 30 at the UP Diliman College of Law. — Niña Cuasay, INQUIRER.net trainee

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