TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines —Parents in this city who fail to send their children to school will be fined or imprisoned.
This was the gist of City Ordinance 07-10, approved by the City Council last week mandating the "responsibility of parents to the elementary education of their children, penalizing acts of delinquency in sending children to school and for other purposes."
The ordinance, mainly sponsored by City Councilor Lucille Yap Lagunay, was finally approved by Mayor Dan Neri Lim, after a series of consultation and public hearings, to realize and implement his brainchild of imposing sanctions to delinquent parents.
"This is a step in the right direction," said the mayor on this unprecedented law, adding that the efforts of the city government to promote pre-school and elementary education are useless if parents and guardians continue to deprive children of their right to education.
Under Lim's initiative, the city government has been providing free school uniforms, school bags and school supplies, and even raincoats for elementary pupils in all government schools.
The ordinance, considered a first of its kind in the country, imposes a fine of P1,000 but not exceeding P2,000 and imprisonment of not more than two months for first offense.
For the second offense, the fine is between P2,000 and P4,000 or two to four months imprisonment, while for the third offense and more, violators are slapped with P4,000 but not exceeding P5,000 in fines or an imprisonment of a maximum of six months or both.
The city's new law cited the circumstances in the parents' delinquency or negligence including the failure to enroll their kids, failure to send their kids back to school in the event they drop out, and failure to provide financial and moral support for elementary education.
It cited the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children, of which the country is one of the signatories.
It is the policy of the city to protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all while recognizing the vital role of the youth in responsible nation building, states the ordinance. — THE FREEMAN