A jail term for those who mess with their old, sick and incapacitated parents.
This was the warning of the Supremo- Senator Manuel ’’Lito’’ Lapid – after filing Senate Bill 2061 that seeks to criminalize the act of deprivation of support to incapacitated parents.
Errant children shall be punished by imprisonment of arresto menor as the minimum and arresto mayor as the maximum.
Arresto mayor means a jail term of one month to one day, six months while arresto menor means a jail term of one day to 30 days.
Lapid did not stop there.
‘’There are also respective fines of not less than P200,000.00 but not more than P500,000.00, at the discretion of the court,’’ he said.
The action movie star stressed that his bill reinforces the duty of children to take care of their elderly, sickly or otherwise, incapacitated parents.
The bill further states that children shall, within their means and capacity, maintain support for their father or mother, who by virtue of being over 60 years of age or suffering from a disease or disability, are rendered incapable of supporting themselves.
The measure also states that among the persons mentioned in Article 195 of the Family Code who are obliged to give support to each other are parents and their children.
This means that the obligation to support cuts both ways— parents must support their children, especially during the years of their minority and dependency; on the other hand, children who are already capable must take care of their elderly, disease or disability-stricken parents who are in need.
Unfortunately, abuse against an elderly, disabled, or otherwise incapacitated parent, which includes physical, sexual, psychological, emotional and financial abuse, abandonment, neglect and serious loss of dignity and respect, has become an “invisible issue” in the Philippines, according to Commission on Human Rights.
The Senate bill states that when an elderly parent appears to be in need, he/she may, by himself/herself through a representative of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), shall initiate the filing of a criminal action against his/her children for deprivation of support.
The bill defines “support” as everything indispensible for sustenance, dwelling, clothing, and medical attendance.
Lapid explained that parents are sanctioned for abusing their children during their time in need such as food, housing and medical attention.
Ergo, children who fail or refuse to take care of their parents when they get old, weak or sick shall also be sanctioned, he explained. ‘’Hindi dapat hayaan ng ating lipunan na basta pabayaan ang mga magulang sa oras ng kanilang pangangailangan (Society should not allow parents to fend for themselves during their time of need),’’ Lapid said.