MANILA, Philippines — Senator Manny Villar filed a bill granting a tax deduction for parents and legal guardians of children with special needs.

Villar said his Senate Bill No. 2624 seeks a deduction from taxable income of P50,000 for parents and legal guardians to help them deal with expenses incurred for the child's therapy, education and treatment.

“The parent or legal guardian must provide more than half of the total financial support for the child to qualify for the deduction,” said Villar in his explanatory note about the bill.

Under his bill, a child with special needs was defined by the proposed legislation as the one who is intellectually disabled, has hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments, serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism and traumatic brain injury.

Villar said the child should not also be more than 13 years of age and must be assessed by the Department of Education's Special Education Division and a medical professional before his/her parents or guardians could qualify for the tax deduction. 

Villar, in his explanatory note of the bill, said his proposal, if passed into law would ease the financial burden of families who have children with special needs.