Parenting is a grueling task for most, if not for all, more so for those who have to face the daunting task head on without so much as a partner to split the responsibility. They are called Solo Parents. By choice or by circumstance, they have the primary responsibility to care of their children playing numerous roles simultaneously.
Solo parents suffer from multitudes of stress ranging from physical: difficulty in providing for the basic needs of the children or family; psycho-emotional: strong emotional anxiety in cases of anniversaries and family celebration; and social aspects: discrimination of children born out of wedlock or products of broken marriages.
The society has become aware of the growing number of solo parents in the community. Such that, in recognition of the earnest efforts of solo parents, the legislative passed Republic Act 8972 or The Solo Parent’s Act of 2000. 
The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program also acknowledge the importance of addressing concerns of solo parents and in levelling the field for development of these individuals. Through the creation of the “Special Sessions for Solo Parents” module, the program envisions empowered solo parents as well as encourage advocacy in the realization of a socio-culturally aware community.
The module seeks to address the issues such as non-involvement in Responsible Parenting Movement (RPM) and other gender related topics during the Family Development Sessions that require the presence of both husband and wife, which compromises their participation to vital and enriching modules. A factor contributing to the compliance of the beneficiary to the conditions of the program wherein for the period 4 – 6 of 2016, 4.08% of the 12,808 FDS non-compliant beneficiaries stated their reason as conflict in livelihood or had to attend personal matters arising from being the lone guardian of the children.
The module has undergone a writeshop participated by Technical Staff from the Pantawid Program, Solo-parent representatives/beneficiaries and other partner stakeholders in order to capture the needs of the target audience and design interventions that will maximize the knowledge and skills of the beneficiaries. It is made up of three main themes, namely: I am a Parent; Me and my Family; and Me as a Solo Parent Advocate. The topics discussed during Family Development Sessions attended by Pantawid Solo Parent Beneficiaries having Learning Outcomes, Inputs (Lecturette), Deepening and Synthesis which promotes an interactive learning technique.
The final output of the module is to organize a Pantawid solo parent group tagged, “Ma-Na” guided by the vision; “Empowered, equipped and responsible Pantawid Solo Parent living in a progressive society with improved quality of life.” and mission; “Ma-Na: Pantawid Solo Parent Group is committed to serve as partners in empowering every Pantawid solo parent towards equal access to social services and participate in nation building for an improved quality of life.” .
The manual is still undergoing enhancement and finalization prior to implementation on field. Nevertheless, it is a tool to be employed by the Regional Program Management Office to level off the learning field of Pantawid Beneficiaries.
***written by: Mac Paul Alariao