The city government here is set to give a PHP1,000 monthly subsidy to 5,000 solo parents earning minimum wage or lower, starting in 2024.

In an interview on Friday, Mayor Belen Fernandez said funds for the subsidy program will be allotted as prescribed by the Expanded Solo Parents’ Welfare Act.

Fernandez said the local government has identified about 5,000 solo parents in the city that would be beneficiaries of the cash subsidy program.

“We will start the distribution of identification cards for the solo parents next week. Starting with the 1,000 recipients and then the others’ IDs to follow,” she said.

A four-day medical mission, in cooperation with the office of Senator Risa Hontiveros, intended for solo parents and other sectors like the senior citizens in the city is ongoing from Aug. 25 to 28.

“There is free medical check-up for them including tests like electrocardiogram,” Fernandez said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development also distributed family packs to solo parents in the city on Friday as part of its relief assistance due to recent typhoons.

“Dalawang bagyo ang tumama dito. May ipu-ipo pa kaya malaking hamon sa city government para makaahon and mapanumbalik ang paghahanapbuhay ditto (Two typhoons and a tornado hit the city and so it is a huge challenge for the city government to rise and renew the livelihood of the residents here),” Hontiveros said in a speech during the distribution.

She said the family food packs and the medical mission are ways to support the affected solo parents whom she said she identifies with being a solo parent herself.

She added that another law, the Expanded Maternity Leave Act, also benefits solo mothers by providing a 120-day paid maternity leave. (PNA)