Bill providing P1,000 monthly cash aid to poor solo parents lapses into law

A measure providing a P1,000 monthly cash subsidy for low-income solo parents, among other additional benefits, lapsed into law after President Rodrigo Duterte took no action on the bill after 30 days.

The Palace released a copy of the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act which lapsed into law last June 4.

Under the Philippine Constitution, a measure passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate will lapse into law if the President does not act on it 30 days upon receipt.

Aside from the P1,000 monthly cash assistance for low-income solo parents, the new law also provides a 10% discount on certain medicines for low-income solo parents with children aged six years old and below, prioritization in low-cost housing, PhilHealth coverage, workforce, apprenticeships, livelihood training, reintegration programs for Overseas Filipino Workers, employment information/matching services, educational scholarships, and other anti-poverty initiatives of the government.

Furthermore, the new law allows solo parents to receive these benefits until their children turn 22 years old.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, the principal author of the measure in the Senate, said the passage of the law was a victory for everyone.

"Ang mga solo parents mismo na nakapanayam namin ang nagrekomenda ng probisyong ito [ng karagdagang benepisyo]," said Hontiveros, a solo parent to four children.

(The additional benefits stated in the law were suggested by solo parents themselves.)

"I share this victory with the millions of solo parents in our country. As a single mom, I’m intimately familiar with the feeling of not being sure how to pay for my children’s tuition, not knowing who can accompany me if one of them gets sick," Hontiveros, who was re-elected to the Senate in the 2022 polls, added. — DVM, GMA News