(You found a job after graduation; would it be still your obligation to help or give back to
your parents?)
THE ETERNAL DEBT: ELUCIDATING THE MORAL IMPACT OF OFFSPRING'S
RESPONSIBILITIES TO THEIR PARENTS
It is a fraction of the Philippine culture for children to give back to their parents
especially when they become successful in life, usually in the form of financial help. One of the
negative consequences of this kind of tradition is quite a few parents are using their kids to be
some sort kind of retirement fund, hence resulting in children becoming a retirement plan.
Regardless of challenges, the elders of the household must break the cycle of treating children as
one’s escape from poverty. Some Filipino parents may find this strange if not absurd. More so
those who treat their children as their ticket to the good life (Salud 2022). This idea of reciprocity
is part of the basis of Philippine culture, but parents shouldn't rely too much on their children, or
worse they are planning to have a child just to take care of their responsibilities.
For Deontology, it would not be the obligation of the child to give back to their parents
even after graduation because it is not stated in the law. It would be moral for deontology if it
would be vice versa because it is stated in the law such as in Republic Act No. 11908 that every
child should be under the custody or care of a parent and it is their obligation to provide security
and financial and emotional support to be able to achieve a harmonious development for the
child. Nobody argues that parents have a duty to look after their kids. It's a matter of law at the
very least. But there is less clarity surrounding the question of whether children are obligated to
care for their parents. The best way to “payback” our parents for their sacrifices, a debt that truly
cannot be repaid, is to make our best effort to raise children of our own since most adults with
older parents have children of their own to care for (McGuire 2019). Others claim that it is a
choice, and since the children owe their parents nothing, they are free to decide not to care for or
assist them. The only thing that children should provide is respect and love for their parents, not
the responsibility to become financially stable. That is one of the reasons why the Filipino
tradition of the debt of gratitude of children to their parents is becoming toxic because they are
using their children as luxury ticket to get out of poverty.
To conclude, it should not be mandatory for the child's to be obligated to give back to
their parents, especially after graduation. Children could help or provide assistance to their
parents after graduation as an act of love but not because their parents are obligating them to
assist them for the reason that they owed them their life. Because in the first place, children are
not required to give something in return to their parents since they are not investments so just be
thankful for what they can provide. Raising children is not a business venture. It needs to be
done with gratitude and affection. In fact, children cannot pay back to their parents. Because you
can never gauge the enormous effort they have taken to give you all happiness they could.
Instead, they want emotional support. They want to continue staying with their children. They
want to watch their grandchildren grow & play (Ekta 2016).
References:
McGuire, A. (2019). What Do We Owe Our Parents?
https://ifstudies.org/blog/what-do-we-owe-our-parents
Salud, J. (2022). Children as retirement plan? Huge mistake
https://philstarlife.com/news-and-views/781446-children-as-retirement-plan-huge-mistake?
page=2
Ekta, (2016). Should children payback to their parents for raising them?
https://confusedparent.in/children-payback-parents-raising/
The Parent Effectiveness Service Program Act of 2022, Republic Act No. 11908
https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2022/ra_11908_2022.html
