Registration for solo parents extended

CEBU, Philippines - Good news for Cebu City’s solo parents who have not registered yet.

The Department of Social Welfare and Services has extended the registration cutoff until December 30 for solo parents to avail of the city’s P5,000 cash assistance and scholarship program.

The registration started in September and was supposed to end last October 30, 2014.

Councilor Gerardo Carillo, author of the City Ordinance 2935, otherwise known as the Solo Parent Ordinance, said DSWS extended the registration following the requests of barangay captains due to incessant validation and registration.

At present, there are 2,000 newly registered solo parents for south district and 1,500 for north district. The figure is on top of the 1,000 solo parents who have first undergone validation by DSWS, said Carillo.

DSWS has started the orientation and briefing on the ordinance in some barangays.

Solo parents are women, men and even grandparents who take care of children alone.

They are encouraged to register at DSWS office to be granted of benefits such as scholarship, livelihood assistance, and prioritization in housing projects, among others.

Carillo said the city government will be extending first the scholarship program and the rest of the benefits will soon follow.

For those who are qualified, P10,000 will be granted for the tuition fee and P500 miscellaneous expense every semester starting June next year. An additional P1,000 will also be given as living expense to solo parents from the mountain barangays.

There are several accredited schools in the city, including TESDA, University of Cebu, Cebu Institute of Technology-University, University of the Visayas, Cebu Technological University, University of the Philippines and other state universities and colleges.

“They can enroll in formal education for four years or even vocation courses or vocational technology,” Carillo said.

The city has earmarked P200 million budget for the scholarship program and P40 million for the implementation of the solo parent ordinance.

Ten million pesos has also been allotted for the financial assistance, P20 million for the livelihood program and another P20 million for the loan package.

To avail of the benefits, the solo parent must be a resident of Cebu City, has voted for three consecutive elections and earns below P60,000 a year.

Mayor Michael Rama earlier vetoed the proposal, stressing that it is impracticable, discriminatory and violative of the equal protection clause guaranteed by the Constitution.

The City Council, however, overruled the veto. (FREEMAN)