Filial Support in Context: Why the Philippines's “Parents Welfare Act”
Misses the Nuance?
Senator Panfilo Lacson’s Parents Welfare Act of 2025 seeks to criminalize the failure of adult children to support their elderly, sick, or incapacitated parents. The senator justifies the bill by citing examples from both East and West—such as Singapore’s Maintenance of Parents Act and filial responsibility statutes in 30 U.S. states—as evidence that such policies are neither unusual nor culturally inappropriate.
However, such comparisons, when taken out of context, can be dangerously misleading. They ignore the distinct economic, legal, and cultural ecosystems in which these policies operate—and, more importantly, how those systems either cushion or exacerbate the burdens placed on individuals. In short, filial responsibility cannot be meaningfully legislated in isolation from state support structures.
Singapore: Mutual Obligation, Built on State Guarantees
Singapore is often held up as a model of successful integration of filial obligation into law, particularly through its Maintenance of Parents Act, which allows elderly parents to legally claim support from their children. But what is often overlooked is the broader socioeconomic architecture that makes such a policy viable—and even reasonable—within the Singaporean context.
Key differences include:
- Comprehensive Provident Fund System (CPF): The CPF is a compulsory savings scheme that both employers and employees contribute to. It provides for retirement, healthcare, and housing—core aspects of financial security. Most elderly Singaporeans have at least partial self-sufficiency, and family support becomes supplementary rather than primary. (CPF Board, 2024)
- High Quality of Life and Social Mobility: Singapore ranks among the top globally for healthcare access, housing quality, and educational attainment. It is a high-income economy with universal public services. Intergenerational support is framed not just as duty, but as reciprocal care between empowered individuals.
- Legal Safeguards for Children: Amendments to the Maintenance of Parents Act in 2023 added restrictions on abusive parents: those who had abandoned, abused, or severely neglected their children must now seek permission from a tribunal before making claims. This adds a layer of ethical accountability, protecting those with legitimate grievances.
The Philippines: From Family Value to Penal Duty
In contrast, Lacson’s bill appears to convert what was once a cultural value—the moral imperative to care for one’s parents—into a penal duty, enforceable under threat of criminal sanction. This transformation is highly problematic, especially in a country where state guarantees for the elderly are weak or virtually nonexistent.
According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), as of 2022:
- Only 38% of elderly Filipinos receive a pension.
- The DSWD social pension program provides only ₱500 per month.
- Healthcare costs remain largely out-of-pocket, with public hospitals plagued by underfunding.
Filial support in the Philippines is often not reciprocal. It is one-directional—a function of economic necessity, not of mutual empowerment. The law, if passed, would function more as a punitive enforcement mechanism than a reflection of cultural harmony. It risks criminalizing the poor while ignoring the failures of the state to build resilient support systems for its aging population.
The U.S. Comparison: A Red Herring?
Lacson also points to the United States, where 30 states have filial responsibility laws. But the U.S. context offers even more reason to question this justification.
- Legal Dormancy: While these laws exist on paper, very few are actively enforced. According to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), only a handful of civil cases invoking these laws have occurred in the past decade—and virtually none result in criminal prosecution. Most are used by nursing homes to recoup unpaid care costs, not to reconcile estranged families.
- Cultural Context: The U.S. is an individualist society built on the assumption of independence from both state and family. Government programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid exist to ensure that even those without family can live with dignity in old age.
- Family Autonomy: In the U.S., the idea of coercing adult children into caring for abusive or neglectful parents would likely trigger constitutional challenges on the grounds of personal liberty. Cultural norms uphold autonomy over obligation, unlike the communitarian frameworks Lacson refers to.
To borrow American law to justify a communitarian framework—as Lacson does—reveals a confused legal analogy. It attempts to apply the letter of U.S. law, without the spirit or structure that surrounds it.
Filial Duty Cannot Replace a Broken Welfare State
Ultimately, Lacson’s bill raises a fundamental question: who is truly responsible for elder care in a democratic society? If the answer is solely “the family,” then the state absolves itself of obligation. But this is neither sustainable nor just—especially in a country like the Philippines, where poverty, trauma, and intergenerational inequality remain deeply entrenched.
Moreover, legislation that presumes a moral harmony within families risks re-traumatizing individuals with histories of neglect or abuse. Not all parents are nurturing. Not all relationships can be reconciled. And not all children have the means to provide care, even if they desperately want to.
The road to protecting the elderly is not paved with shame-based laws. It is built through:
- Universal social pensions
- Accessible public healthcare
- Community-based elder care
- Reforms to informal labor retirement inclusion
- Respect for personal agency and trauma histories
Conclusion: Context Matters
Filial responsibility, when implemented in systems like Singapore, is reinforced by social equity, economic security, and mutual care. It functions in a system where state support is primary and family support is secondary, optional, or supplementary.
In the Philippines, however, where the social protection floor is weak and shrinking, legislation like the Parents Welfare Act risks turning family love into a mandated debt—and turning economic hardship into criminal liability.
As one policy expert aptly puts it: “Care should never be enforced through law. It should be enabled through justice.”