HOUSE PANEL APPROVES CHILD SUPPORT BILL

THE House Committee on the Welfare of Children has approved a proposed measure seeking to penalize parents or irresponsible fathers who refuse to support their children’s education, food, clothing, and other basic needs.

House Bill 8987 also known as the “Act Ensuring Child Support and Penalizing Parental Refusal or Neglect Thereof” is now being evaluated by the House Committee on Appropriations for necessary funding.

“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 on Sunday said.

“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,” he added.

The proposed bill was filed by Tulfo in August 2023, along with his fellow ACT-CIS Partylist Representatives Jocelyn Tulfo and Edvic Yap, Benguet Rep. Eric Yap, and Quezon City 2nd district Rep. Ralph Tulfo.

The House Committee on Appropriations, headed in an acting capacity by Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo, will assess the proposed bill to determine the funding needed to establish a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) office that will oversee the law’s implementation.

It was agreed during hearings that the financial support fathers must provide will depend on their children’s needs.

The law will mandate the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in collaboration with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), to determine the amount that “deadbeat” fathers must provide as child support.

According to HB 8987,  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.

Other authors of the bill include Reps. Paul Ruiz Daza, Patrick Michael Vargas, Paolo Duterte, Gus Tambunting, Jude Acidre, Jurdin Jesus Romualdo, Bai Dimple Mastura, Maria Rene Ann Lourdes Matibag, Noel Rivera, Wilbert Lee and Angelica Natasha Co.