In April 2025, a man from Zamboanga del Sur named Medal N. Banda won the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s search for the Modelong Ama of Region IX or the Zamboanga Peninsula. A single father of seven, the government press called Banda a testament to the impact of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), which provided him with financial assistance and family development training, helping him support his children and their education.
But single fatherhood is not easy. A 2024 study from the Saint Columban College in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur showed that, like single mothers, single fathers struggle with work and raising children, especially as household work and child-rearing are usually relegated to women in traditional or nuclear families.
“At first, it was difficult because I was not very familiar with household chores typically done by women, doing the laundry, cooking, waking up early, cleaning the house, and taking the child to school before going to work,” said one of the participants, who the researchers kept anonymous. “I realized what I had wasted. I realized how hard it was for my partner before. I realized how difficult it is to be both a father and a mother.” He also said that his supervisor at work scolded him for coming to work late and leaving early to drop off and pick up his child at school.
Other single fathers take on second jobs to financially support their children and their education. “I just had to work extra hard, from working at my job, then preparing things, and then doing side jobs like driving in the afternoons,” said another participant in the study. “I did this so I could send my child to a private school.”
In turn, single fathers, and solo parents in general, may experience role strain, where the increased stress of being the main caregiver and the sole financial provider negatively impacts how they perform their duties.
According to another study by the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI), one in three youth between 1994 and 2021 grew up without both parents. In the Zamboanga Peninsula, 3.3 percent of children who are not raised by both parents are only raised by their fathers. Across all cases of single parenthood in the country, 38 percent are caused by separation, while 47 percent are caused by one parent working away from home, either within the country or abroad.
For the single fathers in Pagadian, community support is valuable. According to their accounts, getting assistance in cash or kind, especially food, helped them manage their responsibilities. However, the study also recommended additional practical support, including job training, financial literacy programs, and childcare assistance.
As of 2024, there are over 15 million single parents in the Philippines, with 95 percent being mothers and the remaining five percent being fathers, according to the World Health Organization. Despite sharing a smaller percentage in the country’s solo parenthood statistics, single fathers are also entitled to benefits and services from the government, as stated in the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act. The law sets provisions for parental leave, working from home when applicable, and a more comprehensive package of social protection services. These services cover livelihood training, provision of capital for business, individual, peer, or family counseling, temporary shelters, and parental development.
