Senator Panfilo Lacson proposed to penalize children who are not going to give support to their parents who are already reached senior citizen or having illness regardless of age.
According to Senate Bill No. Twenty-nine filed by Lacson, even in the past, children are already obliged to give support to their parents.
“We, Filipinos, are well-known for our close family ties. Because of this, it is not surprising that we have the usual inclination to care for our elderly. However, even with these close family ties, there are cases of elderly, sick, and incapacitated parents who were abandoned by their own children,” Lacson wrote in the explanatory note.
“Nowadays, the sights of abandoned elderly in our streets become typical. Children fail to provide the necessary support to their aging, sick and incapacitated parents. This happens despite our moral and natural obligation to maintain our parents who are in need of support,”
The bill stated that “son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, whether biological or adoptive” are required to give support to their family member who is already reached 60 years old and above or suffering from illness.
Minors or people who cannot take care of themselves because of physical or mental condition are exempted in giving support to their family member.
If the parent who needed assistance have more than one child, the support should be divided among the children.
Children who cannot provide support to their parents will face 1-6 months of detention or a fine of P100,000.
Meanwhile, abandoning their parents would face 6-10 years of detention and a fine of not less than P300,000.
The bill also mandated all provincial governments and highly urbanized cities to establish one Old Age Home that can accommodate 50 parents.
Lacson passed a similar bill in 2016 but it didn’t pass into law.