Need for Child Support

You can explore three legal options on how to ask for support from the child’s father.

1. Invoke R.A. 9262 or the Violence Against Women and Children Act of 2004. Section 3 (a) (D) mentions that the act of withdrawing support from a woman and/or her child who are legally entitled to the same is deemed as economic abuse. This is a form of violence against women and children.
2. Apply for a protection order under Section 8 of the court ruling in Garcia v. Drilon (G.R. No. 179267). This protection order directs the father of your child to provide “legal support.” Section 8 (g) describes legal support as a “percentage of the income or salary of the respondent to be withheld regularly by the respondent’s employer for the same to be automatically remitted directly to the woman.” This is meant to “safeguard the offended parties from further harm” and “ensure their financial support.” If the father does not remit at all or is delayed in his remittance, he can be held for indirect contempt of court.
3. File for a Temporary Protection Order (TPO). This order is stipulated under Section 15 of R.A. 9262. The court ruling in Tua v. Mangrobang noted that TPOs may be granted ex parte. This means that the respondent-father does not have to be present during the hearing for the grant of a TPO. This especially applies in your case since the father of your child is living abroad. However, you need to provide affidavits to show that the father is, indeed, out of the country for the TPO to be issued.