The recent uproar triggered by Sen. Tito Sotto’s “joke” on Social Welfare Sec. Judy Taguiwalo’s being a single mother, prodded me to take a good look at single parenthood in the Philippines.
It also made me sit back and reflect on myself as I have been a single mother for the past 17 years.
I’m just wondering, how can a person occupying a highly-esteemed government position make fun of someone who happens to have children without the sanctity of marriage? Or what if it is her choice to stay unmarried? Does that choice make her less of a person? Does that make her a slut?
Presumably, Senator Sotto is not aware or perhaps he is totally blind to the hardships that single parents go through, hence, it was easy for him to make “jokes.”
If my memory serves me right, the same senator made another “joke” to a movie starlet several decades ago and sexually molested her. Goodness! This Senator must be full of jokes. Or perhaps, he is the JOKE?
Single Parents—PH and the World
In 2012, approximately 13.9 million Filipino single parents carried with them the burden of raising their family by themselves.
That’s roughly 15 percent of the total estimated population at that time which was 94 million.
Of the 2.3 billion children around the world, 320 million live in single-parent households usually headed by single mothers.
Today, our country is home to over 100 million people, and while there is no exact figure available as to the exact number of single parents, it is safe to say that the 2012 figure has certainly escalated considering the numerous single parents we see in today’s Philippine society.
Single parenthood
Being a single parent is no joke. Yet, many people make jokes about it. Just like how that Senator did.
Parenting per se is tough, being a single parent is even tougher. There are many challenges in being a single parent such as problems about finances.
Single mothers work long hours or multiple jobs in order to support the family.
Then there is the stigma of being “socially-unacceptable.”
Although we are in the digital age, still, there is that “malaise” attached to single mothers. They still experience undesirable attitudes from her peers and society.
Single mothers are looked down upon and pitied and viewed as immoral. Therefore, single parents, especially the unmarried or separated women, are silently suffering from discrimination in many facets of everyday life.
Also, there’s a cultural bias against single parents, there is that assumption that the households being led by them are less than, incomplete, and so children suffer as a consequence.
It is, therefore, ironic that even with the escalating number of single parents in the Philippines, society still cannot seem to grasp the fact that there are women in our midst today who would choose to rear a child in this world alone.
Thus, making painful jokes to unwed mothers and women single parents is actually a disgraceful act and not the women themselves.
Single mothers are human beings who deserve to be respected. They deserve all the chances that are given to women who are married to their partners.
They don’t deserve to be pitied or be treated like decadent individuals. The same way that their children must be respected, should not be discriminated or bullied as they are all children of God who deserved to be loved and cared for.
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Author’s email: legis616821@gmail.com
