Bill criminalizes parents' failure to give legal child support

A jail time of up to two years await parents who will refuse or fail to give legal child support without justifiable cause, if the bill filed by Manila Rep. Rosenda Ann Ocampo becomes a law.

 

Under House Bill 6079, legal child support refers to the amount determined by a court order or under a parenting agreement approved in court, or issued under a protection order pursuant to Republic Act 9262, otherwise known as the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004. The amount should be remitted by the parent obliged to give support to the parent who has the legal custody or parental authority over the child.

 

The measure makes it unlawful for any person to refuse or fail to give legal child support without justifiable cause, amounting to more than P30,000 or for a period of more than six months.

 

Likewise, any person who pays less than the amount determined by the court as legal child support amounting to more than P30,000 or for a period of more than one year shall be penalized.

 

The HB 6079 provides for a penalty of P25,000 or imprisonment of not less than six months but not more than one year or both and the lump sum settlement of the total unpaid legal child support on the first instance that the concerned parent fails to provide legal child support.

 

For subsequent offenses, the bill provides the penalty of a fine of P50,000 or imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than two years or both and the lump sum settlement of the total unpaid legal support.

 

In seeking the bill's approval, Ocampo said the issue of child support remains to be one of the most difficult issues to resolve between couples who chose to separate from each other. The child's situation, she said, is worsened when the parent obliged to give legal child support, refuses or fails to fulfill his or her obligation.

 

“Apart from the emotional trauma, the parent who has custody of the child is left with the difficult task of single-handedly raising the child or children” she said.

 

The lawmaker noted that present laws do not penalize anyone who refuses or intentionally fails to pay the legal child support.

 

“The custodial parent can only file a motion to cite the obliged parent for indirect contempt for refusal to comply with a valid court order mandating the support provisions,” she said.

 

Ocampo said HB 6079's passage would compel parents to comply with the court order to pay the legal child support and ensure that their child or children still get the best possible care, notwithstanding their severed relationship.

 

The measure has been referred to the House Committee on Welfare and Children for further deliberation. —Xianne Arcangel/ALG, GMA News