ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo (Facebook)

ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo is upbeat over the committee approval of his pet bill, which seeks to impose stricter penalties on deadbeat parents or those who refuse to support their children.

Approved by the Committee on the Welfare of Children was Tulfo's House Bill (HB) No.8987, or the “An Act Ensuring Child Support and Penalizing Parental Refusal or Neglect Thereof".

“This bill will help our sole parents, numbering around 15 million in our population, and serve as their tool to secure the support their children need. Mothers will no longer have to beg or plead with their ex-partners or the fathers of their children for financial support,” Tulfo's statement read Sunday, Jan. 19.

“Enough is enough, I would say. This has to end right now, which is why this law must be passed. What is truly unfortunate is that some of these irresponsible fathers hold government positions, while others work in the private sector,” added the deputy majority leader for communications.

HB No. 8987 is now being reviewed by the Committee on Appropriations in a bid to assess the funding needed to establish a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) office that will oversee the law’s implementation.

It was agreed during hearings that the financial support fathers must provide will depend on the child’s needs. The law will mandate the DSWD, in collaboration with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), to determine the amount that deadbeat fathers must provide as child support.

“Kailangang kailangan na natin itong batas na ito. Kailangang maparusahan ang mga tatay na ayaw bigyan ng suporta ang kanilang mga anak lalo na kapag iniwan na niya ang kanyang pamilya,” Tulfo said.

(We really need this law. Fathers who abandoned their family and refuse to give child support must be punished.)

“Nagpapasalamat tayo sa ating mga kasamahan sa Kongreso sa pag-usad nitong panukalang batas pero sana ay mas madaliin pa ito para tuluyan nang mapanagot ang mga walang pusong ama na tinalikuran ang kanilang mga sariling anak,” Tulfo emphasized.

(While I thank my colleagues in Congress for moving this proposed law forward, I hope we can still expedite it so that we can have a system of punishing heartless fathers who left their own children behind.)

The measure was filed by Tulfo in August 2023, along with his fellow ACT-CIS Party-list Reps. Jocelyn Tulfo and Edvic Yap; Benguet lone district Rep. Eric Yap, and Quezon City 2nd district Rep. Ralph Tulfo.

The legislators propose a penalty of up to six years of imprisonment for deadbeat fathers who refuse to fulfill their responsibilities to their children.