NORTHERN Samar Representative Paul Daza filed a measure that forces non-custodial parents to give child support to their children.

Daza filed House Bill 44 or the proposed Child Support Enforcement Act, which aims to address the imbalance in child support responsibilities of separated couples.

The lawmaker proposed to make the withholding or stopping of child support as a punishable offense.

While there are laws to protect and help single parents under the Solo Parent Welfare Act and the Violence against Women and Children Act, he said there are irresponsible parents who do not provide child support.

“Through this proposed law, absentee or deadbeat parents — who are, unfortunately, mostly men, based on statistics — can no longer act as if bringing a child in this world can easily be tossed aside when a parent or both parents decide to give up on their relationship,” Daza said.

Based on the measure, child support shall not be lower than P6,000 per month, which is equivalent to P200 per day.

The bill also mandates the avoidance of giving a grace period for non-payment of child support, as the offending parent would be immediately susceptible to criminal action upon his first default of payment.

He said gender would be removed as a factor in evaluating cases, and even mothers can be compelled to give child support if they abandoned their children in the custody of the father or any other substitute parent.

Under Daza’s bill, any person who willfully fails to pay child support, if such an obligation has remained unpaid for two months or has an outstanding amount due of P30,000 or more, shall be liable.