A REPRESENTATIVE from the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Davao Region (DSWD-Davao) said the P1,000 monthly cash subsidy for solo parents will depend on the availability of funds of the local government unit (LGU) where they reside.
Sherlyn C. Concubierta, Solo Parent Focal of DSWD-Davao, revealed this during the Kapehan sa Dabaw, on Monday morning, April 22, 2024, at SM Ecoland.
“Magdepende ta sa availability of funds sa LGU since dili siya maggikan sa DSWD (It will depend on the availability of funds of the LGU since the funds will not be coming from DSWD),” she said.
Concubierta added that Davao City was the only LGU in which the subsidy distribution budget was already approved, and it is awaiting Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). She expressed that they are waiting for the other cities, municipalities, and provinces to approve the budget needed for the subsidy.
Concubierta emphasized that it is the LGU’s responsibility to request funding from their budget officer for the subsidy.
She explained that first to fourth-class LGUs are required, as per Republic Act No. 118611, or the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act, to provide the P1,000 subsidy per month, while the fifth-class and below will depend on their budget. The department has considered the LGUs that did not comply with the monthly subsidy since the law was recently created, but they expect that by 2025, all the funds will be approved.
Some of the benefits of a solo parent are a seven-day parental leave every year, a scholarship for their offspring from the Commission on Higher Education (Ched), Department of Education (DepEd), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), social protection services, and social safety assistance.
Concubierta clarified that each solo parent will only receive P1,000, and it will not depend on how many children they have. She also said that the solo parent must not be a Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiary or a recipient of any other government beneficiaries.
These are some of the categories of solo parents based on the law: Code A1 is solo parents who gave birth to children because of the consequences of rape; Code A2 is someone who became a solo parent because of the death of a spouse; Code A3 is a solo parent because of the detention of a spouse for at least three months; Code A4 is when the spouse is mentally and physically incapable; Code A5 is the legal separation or the de facto separation; Code A6 is the declaration of nullity or annulment; and Code A7 is the abandonment of the spouse among others.
Based on DSWD's 2023 data, there are around 9,494 solo parents in the region; of that number, 886 are from Davao Oriental, 1,480 are from Davao de Oro, 3,163 are from Davao del Norte, 3,752 are in Davao del Sur, and 180 are from Davao Occidental (although the validation and assessment are still ongoing for the province).
The department celebrates Solo Parents Week from April 16 to 21 and Solo Parents Day on April 20. Every third week of April, the agency celebrates Solo Parent Week, and every third Saturday of April, they celebrate Solo Parents Day. RGP
Related stories:
