A few months after Republic Act 11210, which granted a 105-day maternity leave to women workers, was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte, a congressman wants men to get an additional 30 days of leave from work so that new fathers can enjoy their newborns with their wives longer.
Rep. Ronald “Bobby” Ang of Ako Bicol has filed a co-parenting bill that provides for a 30-day paternity leave for men that will be deducted from the leave credits of the wife.
“The child will have a good start if the two [parents] take care of the baby. That is the modern concept—shared responsibility,” Ang said during a dinner with select mediamen.
While the 17th Congress may not have enough time to deliberate on his proposal, Ang said he hopes his bill will be carried out in the next 18th Congress.
Congress will resume session on May 20 after the May 13 midterm elections. It will adjourn sine die on June 7. The new 18th Congress will open in the fourth week of July in time for the State of the Nation Address.
Ang’s proposal came after President Duterte signed last February RA 11210, which grants 105 days or over three months of paid maternity leave for female workers in both government and private sectors, regardless of the civil status or the legitimacy of her child.
The Labor department, together with the Civil Service Commission and Social Security System, are working on the law’s implementing rules and regulations.
Female workers may already avail themselves of the benefits provided for in the new law.
Similarly, a bill lengthening the paid leave credits for working fathers had also been filed at the Lower House by Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel.
Pimentel’s proposal, contained in House Bill 3401, proposes to bump up to 15 days the existing seven-day paternity leave benefit payable to every working husband for each of the first four childbirths of his lawful wife with whom he is cohabitating.
Pimentel’s bill seeks to amend the Paternity Leave Benefit Law of 1996, or Republic Act 8187. The 23-year-old law, authored by the late Sen. Ernesto Herrera, grants a statutory minimum paternity leave of seven days with full pay to all married male employees in the private and public sectors, he said.
Under the law, the benefit also applies to a miscarriage or the loss of pregnancy by the wife.