BAGUIO CITY — Who is a solo parent and what is it like to be one? These are questions the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DWSD) in the Cordillera wants to find out in an attempt to draw a profile of the Filipino solo parent and give the sector a hand.
In the upland region of Cordillera, solo parents held their 1st Cordillera Solo Parent Convention on Thursday and formally formed an organization and elected its officers, following the DWSD order for all regions in the country to each have an organization of solo parents.
The order was for the DWSD to know what else the government could give the sector. At present, under Republic Act 8972, solo parents and their children in the Philippines are entitled to benefits and privileges, for which the government allots a budget.
Among the benefits are additional leave for employees, a 20-percent discount on purchases, and livelihood assistance. In availing of such benefits, the children’s ages don’t matter, as long as the parent has not married or remarried.
DSWD-Cordillera Regional Director Janet Armas noted that solo parents in Cordillera did not have a hard time organizing themselves, as they were already organized at the municipal level.
Armas said the organizing effort was aimed at allowing solo parents to have a louder voice and be heard by the government and concerned sectors.
“This is the first time they are convened in the regional level. They elected their officers and hopefully, this will jumpstart a more significant move from the sector,” Armas told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on the sidelines of the general assembly of the Cordillera Association of Regional Executives (CARE) late Thursday afternoon.
Armas said about 70 solo parents from various places in Cordillera attended the summit in this city.
At the summit, the DSWD-Cordillera gave the solo parents an orientation, and the attendees had a planning session to identify their needs.
“Nagkaroon na rin sila ng orientation at planning so malalaman natin kung ano ba talaga yung needs nila, hindi yung kayang ibigay, kundi ano ba talaga ang kailangan nila na dapat ilapit sa mga agencies (They had an orientation and planning so that we would know what their needs are and not what we can give, but what they really need that can be brought to the agencies concerned),” Armas said.
The officers, she added, were also tasked to come up with a master list of individuals in the region who fall into the definition of a “solo parent”.
“We want to have a profile of the sector,” Armas said.
She said there was also a sharing of the struggles that the solo parents go through, so that agencies would know the experiences of those in the sector.
Armas defined a solo parent as someone who raises a child alone, without any kind of support from a partner, adding they need not be poor.
Under the law, solo parents can register with their respective social work offices in the local government and get a certification and an identification card, which they can use in availing of the benefits provided by law.
Last week, Armas said, the national office of the DSWD had ordered the regional offices to help organize the sectors.
Forming an organization, she said, would allow the solo parents to lobby and get more benefits.
“Hinihiling namin sa mga solo parents na magkaisa, maging miyembro doon sa mga kasama nila para maipaglaban natin ano man yung gusto natin (We are asking the solo parents to unite, be a member [of the organization], so that we can vouch for their needs),” Armas said.
She said although the DWSD already knew the needs of the sector, other government agencies still have to be informed of these so they could properly respond.
“They should participate in the activities of the solo parents, so that we and other agencies would know how to respond to their needs,” she added.
Armas’ office documented the life stories shared by the solo parents during the summit. All these, she said, would be shared with other government agencies concerned “for better understanding and appreciation” of how these individuals get by as both father and mother to their families. **PNA
