Revilla elated over House Panel passing of Trust Fund for Abandoned
Sen. Bong Revilla is elated to hear that the House Committee on the Welfare of Children successfully passed Tuesday a counterpart of his bill on the Special Trust Fund for every Abandoned, Neglected and Voluntarily Committed Children.
The veteran lawmaker 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.
Under Revilla's bill, orphaned, neglected, abandoned and voluntarily-committed children will be provided with a special trust fund amounting to P 2,500 quarterly by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
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.
If passed into law, Bong Revilla's bill would aid 1.8 million orphan and abandoned children in the country, between ages 5 and 14, who might already be engaged in child labor and struggle 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 grant of a reasonable lump sum grant to abandoned, neglected or voluntarily committed children who would 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 (3) years in proportion to the average inflation rate for the said period as certified by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).
PAGKAKAPASA NG BATAS PARA SA PONDO NG MGA INABANDONA AT NAPABAYAAN, IKINAGALAK NI REVILLA
IKINAGALAK ni Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr. ang pagkakapasa ng panukalang batas sa ikatlong pagbasa ng House Committee on Social Welfare sa Special Trust Fund for every Abandoned, Neglected and Voluntarily Committed Children.
Ito ay dahil sa halos kahalintulad na ipinasa ni Revilla na panukalang batas na ngayon ay minamadali rin niyang maipasa upang tuluyan ng maging batas.
Matatandaan na kamakailan lamang ay isinumite ni Revilla ang panukalang batas na (Senate Bill No. 1021), o ang “An Act Providing for a National Program to Support and Care for Abandoned, Neglected and Voluntarily Committed Children, Creating a Special Trust Fund.”
Nais ni Revilla na ang mga benepisyaryo ay bibigyan ng trust fund simula ng sila ay pangalagaan ng DSWD hanggang sa abutin nila ang legal age, maliban na lamang kung kusa itong inihinto ng maaga ng DSWD dahil sa pagkamatay, hindi kuwalipikado o iba pang kadahilanan.
Kung maisasabatas, malaki ang maitutulong nito sa may 1.8 milyong orphan at abandoned children sa buong bansa sa pagitan ng mga edad 5 hanggang 14 anyos na karaniwang sumabak sa child labor o maagang nakipagbuno sa buhay para makaraos lamang sa halagang $1.25 sa loob ng isang araw o posibleng hindi pa umabot ng isang araw.
Mismong ang DSWD sa tulong ng iba pang sangay ng pamahalaan ay aatasang mangalaga sa kapakanan at paghubog ng mga kabataan at kailangang magtayo ng transparent mechanism na magbibigay ng lump sum grant para sa abandonado, napabayaan o boluntaryong kabataan na pasado para sa naturang programa.
Matapos magkakaroon ng trust fund account sa kahit anong commercial bank o ilang commercial bank sa pangalan ng potential beneficiaries sa ilalim ng memorandum agreement na ipapasok sa commercial bank at DSWD mismo.
At para manatili ang real purchasing value ng naturang halaga sa pagdaan ng mga taon, ito ay itataas ng DSWD kada tatlong taon na sukat sa average inflation rate para sa nasabing peryodo na sertipikado ng National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).