House bill to penalize ‘runaway parents,’ especially irresponsible dads

MANILA, Philippines — Runaway parents – particularly irresponsible fathers – who intentionally and repeatedly refuse to provide financial support to their children, either out of wedlock or not, can now be penalized and jailed once this bill becomes law.

House Bill 4807 proposes that deserter-parents, either the mother or father, found to be qualified for “recurrent offenses,” should be punished with imprisonment of two to four years, depending on the discretion of the courts.

They should also be made to pay a fine ranging from P100,000 to P300,000. First-time offenders, on the other hand, may be granted probation under the measure for humanitarian reasons.

Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte is the principal author of the measure, whose co-authors include Reps. Eric Go Yap (Benguet), and Edvic Yap and Jeffrey Soriano of party-list ACT-CIS.

Duterte also acknowledged that most negligent parents withholding child support are men, prompting him to warn that “deadbeat fathers should be made to own up to their responsibilities by imposing stringent penalties.”

The authors at the same time pointed out that under the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act (Republic Act 9262), withholding child support is classified as “economic abuse” and considered a crime.

As per HB 4807’s financial threshold or ceiling, the amount of child support should not be lower than P6,000 a month, which is equivalent to P200 a day.

The combined monthly net incomes of both parents shall be used in determining the amount of child support, which shall be divided proportionately between the two, based on their respective net incomes.

The four administration lawmakers also sought the establishment of a National Child Support Program, or NCSP, to assist in enforcing child support claims, which include locating absentee parents and expediting the collection of the financial aid from them.

The NCSP adheres to the implementation of the Expanded Solo Parents Act (RA 11861) and will help in reducing the clogged court dockets of cases related to child support claims, the authors said.

Citing a recent study by the World Health Organization, Duterte said about 15 million Filipinos, mostly women, are solo parents.   – Delon Porcalla