THE FOUNDATION of Philippine society is the nuclear family, often with both the mother and the father assuming parenting and breadwinning duties to sustain their household. A solo parent, however, shoulders both those responsibilities simultaneously.

Under the Expanded Solo Parents’ Welfare Act of 2022, a solo parent is a parent or guardian who provides sole parental care and support of the child or children due to various special circumstances. Today, an estimated 15 million people in the country are solo parents—roughly 13% of the overall population.

Discussions on solo parenting, however, are often sidelined in the country, with many unaware of their rights under the law. For Atenean faculty, the unique expectations of academia on top of an uncertain policy response conceal their struggles in plain sight.

Routine challenges

Since 2022, Theology Department Professor Annelle Sabanal, PhD has been raising two children—a 14 year old and a 10 year old with special needs—by herself, after legally separating from her former spouse. She soon moved from teaching at a seminary to the Ateneo for higher pay.

Meanwhile, Filipino Department Instructor Yolando Jamendang, who has been teaching in the University since 2005, has been a solo parent since his wife passed away in 2020. Since then, he has been raising his seven-year-old son, Pedro, with the help of his sister.

With minimal outside help, both Sabanal and Jamendang share that they have to structure their days to balance both work and household duties.

For instance, Sabanal wakes up at 4:00 AM to get her children ready for school. After dropping off her youngest, she goes straight to the Ateneo campus to teach her classes, only having time for her academic endeavors—checking papers and pursuing academic research—once her children are asleep.

On days she feels lethargic due to her Major Depressive Disorder with Anxiety, she usually explains to her children that she faces difficulty fulfilling her household duties. Due to her increased workload, she has often neglected her own well-being, which she suspects led to her kidney issues.

“I can only do the basics to survive the day,” she remarks, later adding that she eventually learned to say yes to help. “What I can provide for the kids is being their mom, and my communities are a very big help to me.”

Jamendang’s routine is similar. Before leaving for campus, he prepares food for his son and sister, who takes care of Pedro while he is at work. Although he wishes to spend leisure time with his son during weekends, he ends up using them to run errands and do chores like grocery shopping, laundry, and cleaning.

To allot time for himself, he wakes up early to read and journal—activities he now has to do during his dialysis treatments, which take up much of his free time. 

“Mahirap pagsabayin ang pagtatrabaho at pag-aalaga sa anak. Kaya may mga time na kailangan ko talagang makiusap sa sister ko na siya muna ang mag-asikaso kay Pedro para makapag-check ako [ng papel] o kaya maka-attend ng meetings,” he shares.

(It’s difficult to juggle work and childcare. That’s why there are times when I really need to request that my sister take care of Pedro so I can check papers and attend meetings.)

Nevertheless, Jamendang shares that the predictability of class schedules allows him to pursue a second job and cover household expenses better. Meanwhile, Sabanal has brought her youngest to class on several occasions, allowing her to look after him.

While the academe allows them such flexibility, the demands of academic work limit both personal and professional capacities.

Between support and strain

In the Ateneo, the last publicly available document formally recognizing solo parent employees is dated 2006, as a response to the Solo Parents’ Welfare Act of 2000. As per this document, solo parent employees in the University are entitled to seven working days of paid leave and are granted a flexible work schedule outside of regular work hours.

The GUIDON has reached out to the University Human Resources regarding the current policies for solo parents. While the inquiry was acknowledged, no updates on the policies were received despite both online and in-person follow-ups.

Still, both Jamendang and Sabanal share that they are not aware of any special benefits for solo parents in the University throughout their years of teaching.

This insight carries implications for how solo parents navigate their career trajectories. Jamendang and Sabanal describe how the lack of updated and properly disseminated formal support contributed to the slow progression of their academic careers.

For instructors like Jamendang, a promotion and a doctorate degree would be key to a higher salary. However, with more pressing personal and financial circumstances, he has instead pursued part-time work as a political communications consultant.

Meanwhile, though Sabanal has already obtained a doctorate, she still faces similar difficulties that obstruct her career advancement. To be promoted in the University, faculty are evaluated based on Instruction, Research and Creative Work, and University Service and Outreach.

She states that these institutional demands for knowledge production put a strain on academics who juggle multiple responsibilities, especially women and mothers.

As a result, the career trajectories of solo parent faculty are shaped by how they navigate these demands, with flexibility often dependent on individual consideration rather than institutionalized policy.

“In terms of goals, my main priority became the kids. I did my PhD well, but now I have to earn. […] I have to put myself in a space where my kids and I are comfortable,” Sabanal admits in a mix of English and Filipino.

The challenges faced by solo parents, hence, continue to exist beyond academia—shifting the focus toward the social circumstances they navigate in their parenting journey.

Cultivating compassion

Reflecting on their personal and professional lives, Jamendang and Sabanal continue to underscore the importance of concrete mechanisms for solo parent faculty. For instance, Jamendang recalls that it took a while for the University’s employee tracking system to reflect his solo parent status in 2020.

To streamline this process, he recommends that the University shifts the application process for solo parents to an online platform to make the process more accessible. Similarly, Sabanal wishes that there would be a more unified employee information system in the Ateneo. She hopes to have more paid leave days available for solo parents like her, in order to better manage parenting and professional responsibilities.

Yet, beyond such reforms, achieving a truly inclusive environment for solo parents in the University means fostering a deep sense of compassion through everyday interactions of respect and understanding.

Despite gaps in formal support, Jamendang and Sabanal find meaningful assistance in the kindness of the people around them. In many cases, this support frequently comes from the generosity of their co-teachers and department heads. In particular, they share that their colleagues would extend financial aid whenever necessary.

As Jamendang states, “May kanya-kanyang struggle [tayo]. Ang magagawa natin ay suportahan at unawain ang isa’t-isa. (We all have our struggles. The least we can do is to support and understand one another.)” 

With this in mind,  Jamendang and Sabanal’s experiences suggest that solo parent inclusion is shaped by both institutional mechanisms and daily interactions that foster empathy. Meaningful progress, in turn, is closely tied to support systems that make solo parents feel valued and accommodated within the Ateneo.