Press Release
November 13, 2019

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).

News Latest News Feed