Proposed special allowance for mothers justified

MANILA – Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo defended Tuesday his proposal to grant a monthly allowance worth PHP10,000 to each Filipino mom.

During his commentary show Counterpoint, Panelo said he merely floated the idea that Congress might consider.

Panelo made the statement, after he earned criticisms over his proposal to give all Filipino mothers a regular allowance amounting to PHP10,000 every month.

“Eto binabash ho ako dito. Hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit ako binabash dito (They are bashing me. I don’t understand why they are bashing me over my proposal),” he said. “Iyan ang gusto kong gawin ng mga miyembro ng Kongreso. Hindi ako. Ideya ko lang ‘yun (That’s just what I want members of Congress should consider, not me. That’s just my idea).”

On July 3, Panelo said Filipino mothers, who are in charge of taking care of household expenses, should be given PHP10,000 every month in order to lessen their burden.

Panelo said his proposal would prevent some Filipino moms who could not carry the financial burdens to resort to suicide.

Panelo, in his latest commentary show, said he had pitched the idea after his talk with former Pampanga governor Lilia “Baby” Pineda who told him about the plight of Filipino mothers.

“I realized that there are times, many times over, maraming beses na ang mga ina ng tahanan, hindi alam kung saan kukuha ng pera (that mothers or light of the home do not know where to get money),” he said. “Dapat po merong regular na monthly allowance para meron silang paghugutan kahit papaano, may mai-withdraw (They should have a regular monthly allowance so they would have the money).”

Panelo earlier expressed hope that lawmakers would pass a measure granting monthly allowance to all Filipino mothers.

He said his proposal covers housewives, single mothers, and even working moms.