CAMARINES Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte has called on all solo parents from among the country’s estimated 14 to 15 million single moms and dads who have yet to sign up with or update their current files in their respective local government units (LGUs) to do so so they can enjoy the expanded benefits under the new law for their sector, including their automatic free membership in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

The former three-term governor and now congressman of Camarines Sur said that once officially tagged as solo parents, they are entitled to the enlarged package of social protection benefits under Republic Act (RA) No. 11861, or the “Expanded Solo Parents’ Welfare Act.”

Villafuerte said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) itself has encouraged single moms and dads to register or update their files with their respective local government units (LGUs) during the March celebration of National Women’s Month.

“For single moms and dads to be officially classified as solo parents, they need to register or update their already existing files with the Solo Parents Offices (SPOs) of the city governments or Solo Parent Divisions (SPDs) of the municipal governments where they respectively live,” Villafuerte said.

“Alongside a monthly cash subsidy for single moms and dads earning the minimum wage or below, and the 10% discount plus exemption from the 12% value-added tax (VAT) on certain essential purchases, solo parents are now entitled to free PhilHealth coverage,” said Villafuerte.

Villafuerte was a lead author of RA 11861, which expanded the benefits for single parents under the two-decade-old “Solo Parents Welfare Act” of 2000 or RA 8972.

In a 2017 study, the DOH and the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) estimated about 14 to 15 million solo parents in the country.

Villafuerte said that once registered as solo parents in their respective SPOs or SPDs, they will automatically be covered under the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) of the PhilHealth.

Under PhilHealth Circular No. 0020 that was issued following last year’s enactment of RA 11861, Villafuerte said that single moms and dads need to secure or update their Solo Parent Identification Cards (SPICs) and booklets from their SPOs or SPDs, as the case may be, for them to be classified as such in the PhilHealth’s system.

This PhilHealth circular tasks the national government to pay the premium contributions of solo parents with the NHIP, he said.

For those working in the formal economy, their premium contributions to PhilHealth will be shared equally by the national government and their respective employers, he added.

Alongside the automatic PhilHealth membership, single moms and dads are entitled under RA 11861 to a 10% discount and value-added tax (VAT) exemption on the purchase of their children’s milk, food, micronutrient supplements, sanitary diapers, prescribed medicines, vaccines, and other medical supplies from birth until these kids’ turn six years of age.

However, such discounts and VAT exemptions on qualified purchases are available only to solo parents earning an equivalent of P250,000 annually or lower, and they need to present—under a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) circular—their SPICs and booklets when making such purchases.

This P250,000 annual income cap is the same income bracket as those who are exempted from paying income taxes under RA 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, which Villafuerte had also co-authored.

Solo parents with valid or updated SPICs and with incomes below the poverty level set by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) are likewise entitled—under a National Housing Authority (NHA) circular—to equal access to housing opportunities in NHA projects and be members of the Homeowners Association (HOA).

Villafuerte explained that solo parents are entitled under RA 11861 to the monthly cash subsidy of P1,000, so long as they are earning the minimum wage or lower and are not beneficiaries of any other government cash assistance program.

Also, solo parents have access under this law to scholarships and other educational programs from the Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), he said.

Villafuerte said that under the PhilHealth guidelines released by then-PhilHealth president-CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., PhilHealth coverage is automatic and applies to both working and non-working solo parents.

Solo parents are eligible to avail of the PhilHealth Konsulta Package in accordance with the existing policy, and can sign up, along with their children or dependents, with an accredited PhilHealth Konsulta Provider of their choice.

Villafuerte said that RA 11861 increased the age threshold of the dependents entitled to the law’s benefits from 18 years old to 22, and expanded the coverage of spouses to include not only the legitimate husbands or wives but also their partners in common-law relationships as defined by the Family Code.

In line with the government’s poverty-reduction agenda, he said that RA 11861 tasks the government to “support the natural and primary rights and duty of solo parents in rearing their children by providing for their basic needs, and extending to them assistance in social services and welfare benefits, with the end in view of uplifting their status and circumstances.”

The PhilHealth circular defines as the children or dependents of solo parents those who are 22 years of age or below who depend upon their single moms or dads for support and who are unmarried and unemployed.

Those over 22 years old but who are unable to fully take care or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation, or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or condition also qualify as dependents of solo parents.

Alongside leave privileges under existing laws, solo parents are likewise entitled to a seven-day parental leave with pay regardless of employment status, and they get priority in any telecommuting program of their workplaces, said Villafuerte.

Villafuerte also co-authored RA 11165 or the “Telecommuting Act of 2018,” which grants the same or equal treatment or benefits to the workers of employers offering telecommuting programs, whether they are working in their offices or in alternative workplaces such as their homes.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Ryan Ponce Pacpaco