Senator Bong Revilla was elated to hear that the House Committee on the Welfare of Children successfully passed the counterpart of his bill on the Special Trust Fund for every Abandoned, Neglected and Voluntarily Committed Children.
Revilla also re-affirmed his commitment in working double time to pass the Senate version of the bill (S. No. 1021) which he is the principal author.
A special trust fund amounting to P2,500 quarterly will be funded by the DSWD.
Under the veteran legislator’s bill, orphaned, neglected, abandoned and voluntarily-committed children will be provided quarterly by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) of a special trust fund amounting to P2,500.
Pursuant to the proposed measure, beneficiaries will be provided with a trust fund from the time they are taken in by the DSWD until it matures when the beneficiary reaches legal age, unless terminated earlier by the DSWD due to the death or ineligibility of the recipient.
The bill would aid 1.8 million orphan and abandoned children in the country.
If passed into law, the seasoned lawmaker’s bill would aid 1.8 million orphaned and abandoned children in the country, aged between 5 and 14, who might already be engaged in child labor and are struggling to survive on $1.25 a day or less.
The DSWD, in coordination with other government agencies tasked with caring for the welfare and development of children and the youth, will establish a transparent mechanism that would provide a reasonable lump sum grant to abandoned, neglected or voluntarily committed children who will be eligible for the program.
A trust fund account in any commercial bank or in a number of commercial banks will be opened in the name of potential beneficiaries under a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to be entered into by a commercial bank and the DSWD.
To maintain the real purchasing value of the said amount through the years, it will be increased by the DSWD every three years in proportion to the average inflation rate for the said period as certified by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).