MANILA - Children who abandon their old and sick parents should be punished under the law, said Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Lacson’s Senate Bill No. 29 or the “Parents Welfare Act of 2019” seeks to require children to provide necessary support to their aging, sick and incapacitated parents.

The proposed bill also empowers old and sickly parents to file a petition for support before the court and ask tor the issuance of a support order against their children who abandoned them.

Under the bill, a person shall be imprisoned for one to six months or be fined with P100,000 for failing to support the abandoned parent for three consecutive months without justifiable cause.

"Whoever, having the care or protection of a parent in need of support, leaves such parent in any place with the intention of wholly abandoning the latter shall be punished with imprisonment of 6 years to 10 years and a fine of not less than P300,000," Lacson said.

Lacson’s bill also seeks to establish “Old Age Homes” for the elderly, sick or otherwise incapacitated parents in every province and highly urbanized city.