The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Board) of Iloilo has approved an ordinance containing the comprehensive program, services, privileges, and benefits for solo parents and providing for an annual allocation of PHP1 million for its implementation.

Vice Governor Christine Garin authored the Comprehensive Solo Parent Ordinance of Iloilo Province which was approved on Tuesday afternoon.

The ordinance mandates local government units to undertake a wide registration of the target sector and their children, the circumstances of their being solo parents, and to issue Solo Parent Identification Cards for them to avail of provided benefits.

The establishment of solo parents’ desks provincial down to the barangay level is mandatory while the sector is encouraged to form an organization.

“Our solo parents unlike the other sectors are not yet organized. We are still in the process of organizing,” said Ann Rapunzel Ganzon, Division Chief for Technical Assistance and spokesperson for the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO), in an interview on Wednesday.

Ganzon added that when they are organized, there is a database and it is easier to allocate a budget when requested.

She said some of the 35 local government units (LGUs) in the province with solo parent organizations are just starting to reorganize although there is already a provincial federation that was formed in February this year.

“The said ordinance is meant to encourage and push LGUs to apply the law and to appropriate fund thereof. Then again, it all depends on the priority of the LGU,” she said.

In addition to benefits and privileges that are available under Republic Act 8972 or the “Solo Parents’ Welfare Act of 2000, the provincial ordinance provides that all assessed and documented solo parents in the province shall be entitled to 20 percent discount on all charges in all hospitals and medical facilities owned, operated, and maintained by the Iloilo provincial government; 50 percent if they are below or within the poverty threshold; and free of charge when they are in service wards.

All commercial establishments shall have an express lane when the solo parent is with a family member who is below 12 years old and be given priority in boarding public conveyances

They will also be the priority to social safety assistance during disasters, calamities, pandemics and other public health crises, and entitled to death benefits or burial aid under assistance to individuals in crisis situations (AICS).

The provincial government will be reaching out to concerned agencies for the provision of quarterly livelihood and skills training.

Meantime, a fine ranging from PHP1,000 or imprisonment of not more than 30 days, PHP2,500 or imprisonment of not more than 60 days or both at the discretion of the court, and PHP5,000 or imprisonment of not more than one year or both at the discretion of the court, will be meted to violators of any of the provisions of the ordinance on first, second, and third offense, respectively.

The PSWDO, in consultation and coordination with the Provincial Monitoring and Coordinating Committee and the Provincial Legal Office, will be issuing the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the ordinance. (PNA)