Culture and Health

We hear a lot these days about cultural bariers to good health, with a strong tendency to blame victims themselves for their illnesses. "There, it's because of their culture," the term culture almost meant to be synonymous to ignorance.

The UNFPA's latest yearbook, State of World Population 2008, was launched Wednesday with the theme "Reaching Common Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights," discussing how important culture is for the whole range of reproductive health, from the care of pregnant women to family planning, the prevention of domestic violence and tackling HIV and sexually-transmitted diseases.

For several years now, a team of faculty from the UP Diliman anthropology department, myself included, has been assisting UP and Ateneo's medical schools, as well as Ateneo's MBA (master's of business administration) program for doctors and health professionals, to link culture and health. As I read through the UNFPA yearbook, I made a note to make the yearbook recommended reading for the medical students and required reading for the doctors taking MBA.

There is so much in the report that is useful, not just for health professionals but for policymakers, legislators and development NGOs. For today's column, I want to focus on two issues--cultural fluency and cultural politics--to encourage readers to get the report themselves, which they can download for free from unfpa.org/swp.

Engaging culture
UNFPA says it is important to start with what people already know, and with their existing norms and values. The UNFPA also uses the term "cultural sensitivity" but I feel sensitivity can sometimes take on a token quality, meaning we look at other people and say we respect their culture, but we do so in a detached way, remaining distant.

At UP and Ateneo's medical schools, our team of anthropologists uses the term "cultural competence," a somewhat more modest term than "cultural fluency." Competence and fluency can come only from a more engaged immersion--doctors taking time, for example, to understand where a patient is coming from because of sex, ethnicity, religion, class or other social circumstances.

Cultural competence and fluency go beyond the "what" of culture, which often results in a list of quaint beliefs and practices. Instead, we probe and ask why people have these perceptions and concepts.

There are many examples from family planning. All it takes is one negative experience of a couple with a particular method--"natural" or "artificial"--to convince the entire barangay to avoid using it.

Power
The other important concept to pick up from UNFPA's yearbook is cultural politics, which recognizes that cultures are not static givens. Cultural meanings and norms are often formulated and imposed by people with power.

I particularly appreciate the way UNFPA identifies different types of power, including the most insidious one, which is hidden and non-coercive, so much so that the oppressed themselves become the most ardent defenders of the status quo.

For some time now, I have been asked why the Philippines can seem so progressive in terms of gender equality, even ranking sixth globally and first among developing countries, in the World Economic Forum's annual survey on gender equality. The latest survey was released on Wednesday, and the press releases note that this was the third year in a row where the Philippines has held that ranking.

The indicators are clear, showing we rank high in terms of women's education, women's access to high positions in the academe, private corporations, and government with two women presidents. Yet when it comes to reproductive health, one where women's empowerment is so crucial, we fare poorly, with continuing high maternal death rates and low family planning usage.

Why this paradoxical situation? The answer may come from cultural politics: the way women and men have internalized repressive cultural traditions. In the Philippine context, cultural conditioning has made us fear the freedom that comes with gender equality. It's not surprising that the word "liberated," which should be very positive, has very negative connotations, mainly sexual promiscuity, when used to describe a woman in the Philippines. Women know that, too, and so they "embody" this fear of liberation, becoming careful about every body movement, every word said about sex.

This embodied oppression finds its way to other aspects of our lives: the way we raise our children, the way we talk (or don't talk) about sex, even the way we respond to injustices. The UNFPA report refers to a little known fact in the Philippines: rapes in Basilan escalated between 2000 and 2003 because of armed conflict. Rather than sympathizing with the raped women, the communities discriminated against them, labeling them as "dirty." Even worse, some of the women were forced to marry the soldiers.

The cultural politics here is blatant: If women are made "dirty" by the men through rape, it is only these rapists who can make them "clean" again by marrying them. Repulsive? Our laws actually absolve rapists of criminal liability if they marry the woman they raped.

UNFPA reminds us that people are not always passive victims. Cultural politics means that dominant meanings and practices are constantly being contested and challenged by people who work on a rights framework. Put simply, a woman gets to the point where she's had enough and decides she has rights, and will fight for those rights.

An excellent example of cultural politics in the Philippine setting is the recent statement of 14 Ateneo professors (joined later by 55 more), expressing their support for the Reproductive Health Bill, even as they assert that this is not in contradiction with their Catholic faith. A particular passage highlights the negotiations around culture:

"We respect the consciences of our bishops when they promote natural family planning as the only moral means of contraception. . . In turn, we ask our bishops to respect the one in three (35.6%) married Filipino women who, in their ‘most secret core and sanctuary' or conscience, have decided that their and their family's interests would best be served by using a modern artificial means of contraception. Is it not possible that these women and their spouses were obeying their well-informed and well-formed consciences when they opted to use an artificial contraceptive?"

Sensitivity, dialogue, negotiations. UNFPA synthesizes its discussions around culture quite elegantly when it points out how culture presents us with infinite choices: "From within the same cultural matrix we can extract arguments and strategies for the degradation or ennoblement of our species, for its enslavement or liberation, for the suppression of its productive potential or its enhancement."

More than a simple declaration, that passage should be taken as a challenge to Filipinos and people throughout the world to take culture and health seriously.


By Michael Tan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11/14/2008

The struggle lives on…

“ We live our lives, we tell our stories. The dead continue to live by way
of the resurrection we give them, in telling their stories. The past becomes part of our present and thereby part of our future. We act individually and collectively in a process over time which builds the human enterprise and tries to give it meaning.
Being human means thinking and feeling; it means reflecting on the past and visioning into the future. We experience, we give voice to that experience;
others reflect on it and give it new form. That new form in turn, influences and shapes the way next generations experience their lives. That is why history matters.” -- (Lerner in Taguiwalo)

Intramuros symbolizes our past; a heritage site with a unique and important history.
No other site in the country holds as much national historical interest as Intramuros. Even its very ground is unique as it holds artifacts that recount the ages of trade even prior to Spanish conquest.

Intramuros continues to remind me of our struggles as one people. During the Spanish colonization, I imagined the resistance of Filipinos specially the babaylans who usually were seldom or not mentioned at all in our history books and articles.
During the tour in Intramuros, particularly in the oldest stone church in the country – The San Agustin Church, I was fascinated to do a profiling / gender analysis – to account how many males and females in the cemetery. Just to appease myself with a burning issue of women’s invisibility in history.

I learned from feminists that Spanish historians were shocked looking at babaylan dance in ritual. For them it was unthinkable for women to lead such rites, sounded trumphets, dancing, reciting prayer, drinking wine and even killing the pig and marking the foreheads of their husband with the pig’s blood.

Babaylans never touched the forehead of the Spaniards with blood. It was significant for them. For Babaylan only those with the same practice and beliefs will be touched and the gesture of not touching marked off the space between them and the newcomer, foreshadowing the great conflict ahead of them.

Spanish treated babaylan as woman possessed by the demons – has the power to heal the sick, foretell the future and save the dead from hell. The friars call them brujas (witches), maldita (evil) mala mujer (bad woman) and diabolica (satanic).

A Babaylan lament chanted as she danced telling them that this land will be changed and that other people will possess with another culture and other practices so the town will be utterly destroyed and to be subjugated.

This is the reason why babaylan led many resistances to Spanish colonization and Christianization.

Modern-day babaylan experience similar struggles with the raging issue on the reproductive health care law. Our representatives are like the friars who act very powerful, and to the point of sacrificing lives of many people suffering in abuses and burden. Despite the clamor of the people, our lawmakers are not responsive.

The voice of the people echoes – “To all our legislators, WE NEED a comprehensive reproductive health care law NOW.”


by: Lorna Mandin, is the Gendewr focal person for the local government in Davao City. The article is her output for the blog writing workshop during the RH Media Training.

I'm glad i'm not a Catholic

One of the many things i love about how i was raised by my family is the fact that religion was never imposed on me, or on my siblings. We practically grew up in a family wherein we can attend to any church we want to. We weren't scolded too when we didn't want to attend mass at all which happened more as most of my sundays since time immemorial are devoted to music and movies [i can remember my classmates complaining about their parents and grandparents who forever pester them to go to church]

Perhaps,it also helped that my parents' families belong to different religious groups.

But hey,why am i talking about this? after days of being absent here, i come back and write about religion? well,i promise, this is good.

I'm currently attending the "News for a Change: RH advocates' Training-Workshop on Writing for Media," organized by the Health Action Information Network, one of the groups my organization, the VPHCS is working with in the reproductive health advocacy.

Religion.Reproductive Health. Got it?
If you've been following the news, you wont find it hard to connect these two. right! the Catholic church has been there steadily and in full-blast, attacking reproductive health and the people (me,included)who are advocating for it.

Yes, you are right again, the delay of the passage of Reproductive Health Bill in congress can be greatly attributed to the church' influence on the legislators and that woman in the palace who is sitting there by virtue of a phone call.

Worse, the church has been calling us names such as cooperators of murder, without reading the bill at all. well, i never had that great respect to those priests who are so cool about lecturing people about morality without checking reality.

Not to mention their own "immorality," right? dude,who can act cavalier on this? (use Juno's Minnesotan accent here)

But no, that's not the whole point of this training. It just happened that while writing this, the morning news mentioned legislators and the CBCP clash anew (which I did not really catch)and that the training started on a tour in Intramuros,Manila wherein we enjoyed a witty,analytical and altogether beautiful re-telling of Philippine history by Carlos Celdran and yes, history shows how deeply rooted our faith in Catholicism is (me,excluded).

But more than the reinforcement of my non-belief in the catholic dogma, this training helped a lot in enriching my knowledge and capacity as an information desk staff in VPHCS as respected journalists Luz Rimban and Yvonne Chua facilitated the workshop on writing for the media, with very effective guidelines and tools.

But i have to stop right here. It's 7:30, breakfast is getting cold and our next session will be starting soon.

I'd be writing more about this, as soon as I could.

by: Terence Laurence Lopez is a volunteer at the Visayas Primary Health Care Services. Terence joined the RH Media Training conducted by HAIN in October 28-30.

A Reflection: Theocracy, Rights, and the Fight for RH

I am racing against time. Time is winning right now.

It is now 7:49AM on Thursday, October 30th. I am still in my pajamas, writing (my first ever) blog entry on some topic related to reproductive health…or related to anything really. This is the assignment we have been given. We, participants of a 2.5-day media workshop entitled “News for a Change: RH Advocates’ Training Workshop on Writing for Media”. We, who have traveled from near and far to Quezon City in the Philippines. We, united advocates for this issue we fondly call RH. It stands for reproductive health, but it is really so much more; meaning, it would be difficult (and frustrating) to try to answer a beat reporter who asks us “so what is RH?”

Earlier this week, as I took in the gems of Carlos Celdran’s walking tour of Intramros (which I highly recommend: http://www.celdrantours.blogspot.com/), I agreed with his central driving theme. It was two-fold:

• The City of Manila has the look of being soul-less. The answer lies in the walls of Intramuros, where its soul once was.
• Theocracy, or a form of government in which a god or deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler, can be a very, very dangerous thing. You can see its remnants in the history of Manila.

In my mind, the raging debate around passage of a national Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill) is the next step in Manila’s unsettling history of theocracy. The issues are far more complex than separation of Church and State, however.

To a person who finds comfort in belonging to both Church and State, this is no easy issue.

When I worked on a similar RH Bill in the State of New York last year, the battle was not so different from its Filipino counterpart. What we on the RH side call “mis-information” from the conservative Catholic side ruled the law of the land. In New York, where the perceived social norm is quite liberal, it is the Catholics who have a united front. They are the ones flooding the congressional halls with letters, phone calls, educational materials…at the rate of hundreds every week. More importantly, they are the ones who have the money to fund such efforts.

In my mind though, their most important advantage is their “united front.” If you view this as raging a battle, you will see that on the Catholic side everyone’s weapon is pointed in the same direction. That army is well-prepared, well-armed, and well-convinced of their core message: “killing unborn babies (not early fetuses) is evil, and all practices associated with it must go.” Of course there are subtleties and slight differences of opinion, but the message is clear. The victim is the unborn baby, a creation of God, and therefore the battle is one in the name of God.

On the other side, you will see that there isn’t much of an organized army. The ones fighting are extremely committed to their cause of defending reproductive health as a fundamental human right. This side of the battle is scattered. The unifying message is far more vague. Some believe in all forms of contraceptives for all. Some draw the line at abortion. Some only believe in availability when rape or incest has happened. Some also consider themselves Catholic, and some are of other religions or of no religion at all. Some are part of the army because their fight is for larger issues of gender equality, not just women’s reproductive health.
Meanwhile, women continue to suffer.

I ask myself, “What is sacred?”

Is the fight to defend the health and rights of women (and by extension, help curb poverty and overpopulation) so immoral in the Catholic eye? Why did the history of the fight switch from a fight for RR, or reproductive rights, to RH, or reproductive health? Does the Bible have anything to say about rights? And what of separation of church and state? Must the fight for RH be a fight against the Church?

But alas…it is 8:25am and I still need to shower, so the answers to these and other questions must wait until my next entry.
I will just close with this because I found that in fact, the Bible does have something to say about rights.

Proverbs 31:8 says “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”

Now of course, this can be used to defend either side, but that’s a discussion for another time…

The author, Aita Amaize, is a volunteer at the Save the Children office in Manila. She joined the Media Training conducted by HAIN last October 28-30.

Inay at a Young Age

Young Adulthood, as written by Josefina N. Natividad and Maria Paz N. Marquez, is a time normally associated with the onset of sexual activity, both within and outside the context of a committed relationship Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study 3.

According to the 2003 National Demographic and Health Survey, one out of five Metro Manila women aged 15 to 24 are already mothers.

Early Pregnancy

Early pregnancy heightens the health problems it associates. Sexual and Reproductive Health of Adolescents and Youth in the Philippines reports that Filipino teenage mothers account for 20 % of all maternal deaths in the country and 17 percent of fetal deaths. This may be because an adolescent reproductive system is not fully developed and able to withstand birthing which can result in ruptures. Another is having a breech pregnancy which is twice as frequent among teenagers as among general population. Also, four months of postpartum, half of all 15 to 24 year old mothers resume menstruation, making them at risk of becoming pregnant again (http://www.wpro.who.int/NR/rdonlyres/C39735C6-2817-4BC0-B527-3F22FBA7F2B9/0/ASRHphilippines.pdf, November 2008).

In its October 2007 issue, Policy Brief provided the following statistical facts:
♀ Children born to teenage mothers are more likely to die before their first birthday than are the infants of older mothers. They are also more likely to have low birth weights, which increase the risks for serious illness and death.
♀ Over 20 percent of teen mothers drop out of school when they become pregnant. Teen women with children are less likely to return to school and are more likely to face limited career and economic opportunities compared to women whose first children are born after age 20.
♀ Two out of five births by teenage mothers were unwanted at the time of conception. Faced with an unintended pregnancy, an adolescent will often resort to self-induced abortion or the services of an untrained birth attendant.
♀ It is estimated that one in five pregnant adolescents experiences physical abuse.
♀ Teens from poorer families are more likely to initiate sexual intercourse at a younger age and less likely to use contraceptives or to use contraception successfully.
♀ Young women are more likely to die in childbirth.
♀ Adolescents age 15 through 19 are twice as likely to die during pregnancy or child birth as those over 20; girls under 15 are five times more likely to die.
♀ More than 60 percent of young mothers below 20 years old delivered their babies at home; two of five (40 percent) deliveries by adolescent mothers were assisted by hilots or traditional birth attendants rather than medical professionals.

Early Marriage as raison d'être
Because it is a cultural practice, early marriage is not usually recognized as a reason that has helped elevated the number of early pregnancies.

Since the country practices diversity, the legal female age for marriage varies as a result.

Let us take Philippine Constitution 1987 and Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines (CMLP) for instance. Philippine Family Code considers 18 as the appropriate age while CMPLP states that “. . . the solemnization of the marriage of a female who though less than fifteen but not below twelve years of age . . .” (Chapter II, Article 16).

-Amanah Busran Lao
HAIN Research Associate

Citations:
• Natividad, Josefina N., Marquez, Maria Paz N. Sexual Risk Behavior. Youth Sex and Risk Behaviors in the Philippines. Demographic Research and Development Foundation, Inc. University of the Philippines Population Institute Diliman, Quezon City
• “Did You Know”. Philippine Daily Inquirer: August 26, 2008
• http://www.wpro.who.int/NR/rdonlyres/C39735C6-2817-4BC0-B527-3F22FBA7F2B9/0/ASRHphilippines.pdf
• Policy Brief. October 2007.
• Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines. Chapter II, Article 16.

Setting RH Advocacy to the Media

Health Action Information Network (HAIN) has recently conducted the “News for a Change: RH Advocates’ Training-Workshop on Writing for Media” in collaboration with IIE-LDM and with support from IFPLP-Packard Foundation.

Twenty RH advocates from Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao joined the training. This trained aimed at the following objectives:

 To increase the knowledge and understanding of the interplay and complexities between religious history, theology, arguments, policies, issues and practices surrounding reproductive rights and health,
 To sharpen advocacy messages on RH,
 To strengthen RH advocates skills on writing for media, and
 To consolidate and build solidarity among information officers creating a network of writers’ pool and public speakers.

The workshop started with a “Walking Tour” in Intramuros headed by Carlos Celdran where he offered a historical perspective on the country’s colonial past which continues to influence the social, moral, and religious mores.
Connecting the past to present, Ms. Dulce Natividad (Women’s Health Care Foundation) discussed how the country’s past policies and programs influence the present RH situation and advocacy.

Afterwards, the participants Vigie Benosa (PLCPD) and Rikki Trinidad (HAIN) gave an overview of the present situation of RH, the issues it faced, and how these issues were covered by mass media. Atty. Carolina “Carol” Ruiz-Austria shared tips on blogging sexual rights and reproductive health.

Writing for media was the focus of the second day’s training-workshop. There were two resource speakers: Luz Rimban and Yvonne “Bon” Chua, both acclaimed journalists from VERA Files.

Rimban dug into the different forms and the reality of media: print, television, radio, and Internet; the people working behind news reporting; what makes news newsworthy; and the audience. She introduced what press release is, how it differs from press statement and media advisory, and most importantly, its usefulness in promoting the advocacy.

Chua recalled her experience of attending press conferences conducted by NGOs and used them as samples in her discussion on Media Tools: How to Start your Information System. She tackled the proper ways of putting up one fruitful press conference while giving so much emphasis on the importance of understanding the schedule of invited journalists. She also presented the “standard format” for writing press releases starting from punctuation marks to delivery via e-mail.

The room was divided into two groups wherein each participant was asked to present her/his output for critiquing. This workshop helped the participants have the chance to spot and correct the committed errors.

At the end of the day, the participants shared the lessons they obtained and how they could use and integrate them in their chosen professions.

On the third last day Frank Cimatu (Philippine Daily Inquirer-Baguio) helped the participants critiqued the presented blog articles which were homework from Day 1 of the workshop.

At the end of the workshop, the group decided to create a group blogsite where they would post RH articles and updates from their work.

The succeeding articles in this site are outputs by this workshop’s participants.

Training-Workshop on Research Methods for RH

HAIN conducted the 14th short course on Research Methods on October 6-17 at teh Supreme Hotel in Baguio City.

Twenty-three participants from NCR, Baguio, Bohol, Iloilo, Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro joined the two-week training workshop.

The training-workshop aimed to build research capabilities of the participants to enable them to strengthen their programs on sexual and reproductive health.

Key Features of RH BILLS IN THE SENATE – SBN 40, 43 & 87

The 3 Senate RH bills and the House bill differ in the specific provisions, but they share the same objectives as follows:

• to provide couples and individuals accurate information & education, and safe & affordable RH services at the national and local level, including maternal, infant and child health care; family planning; prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications; adolescent and youth health care services; prevention and management of reproductive tract infections, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmittable infections (STIs); elimination of violence against women; education and counseling on sexuality and sexual health; treatment of breast & reproductive tract cancers and other gynecological conditions; male involvement in reproductive health; and prevention and treatment of infertility and sexual dysfunction.

Key Provisions of the RH Bills in the Senate - SBN 40, 43 & 87

1. Senate Bill No. 40
(Sen. Rodolfo Biazon)
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE STRUCTURES AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

SHORT TITLE:
“Reproductive Health Act”
Declaration of Principles.

The State recognizes and guarantees the human rights of all persons :
· equality and equity
· development,
· to choose and make decisions for themselves in accordance with their religious convictions, cultural beliefs, and the demands of responsible parenthood,
· the promotion of gender equality, equity and women’s empowerment as a health and human rights concern,
· access to information and education, and universal access to safe, affordable, and quality reproductive health care services.

The Reproductive Health Management Council (RHMC)). - A Reproductive
Health Management Council (RHMC) shall be established in the Department of Health. The
RHMC shall be the central advisory, planning and policy-making body for the comprehensive
and integrated implementation of all reproductive health care programs and services in the
country.

Members:
a) Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Development;
b) Secretary, Department of Interior and Local Government;
c) Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment;
d) Secretary, Department of Education;
e) Lead convener, National Anti-Poverty Commission;
f) Chairperson, Commission on Population;
g) Chairperson, National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women;
h) Chairperson, National Youth Council;
i) Chairperson, Commission on Higher Education;
j) Two representatives of local government units to be nominated in a process determined by all the leagues of local government units, and to be appointed by the President for a term of three (3) years; and
k) Three (3) representatives from NGOS, who shall be composed of one (1) representative each from among the sectors representing women, youth and health, with a proven track record of involvement in the promotion of reproductive health.


2. Senate Bill No. 43
(Sen. Panfilo Lacson)
AN ACT CREATING A REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND POPULATION MANAGEMENT COUNCIL FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INTEGRATED POLICY ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RELATIVE TO SUSTAINABLE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND POPULATION MANAGEMENT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

SHORT TITLE:
“Reproductive Health Act”
Declaration of Policy. - The State shall:

· adopt an integrated and comprehensive policy on reproductive health in connection with sustainable human development and effective population management
· value the dignity of every human person and affords full protection to people’s rights
· uphold the right of the people and their organizations to effective and reasonable participation in the formulation and implementation of the declared policy
Reproductive Health and Population Management Council:

- the Secretary of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority
(NEDA) as Co-Chairpersons
Members:
a. Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
b. Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd)
c. Secretary of the Department of Labor (DOLE)
d. Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
e. Executive Director of the Commission on Population (Popcorn)
f. Chairperson of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW)
g. Chairperson of the National Youth Council (NYC)
h. Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
i. Chairperson of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council
j. Lead Convenor of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC)
k. Three (3) representatives from the local government units nominated by the leagues of local government units and to be appointed by the President
l. Three (3) representatives from nongovernment organizations: one (1) representative each from the women, youth and health sectors who have distinguished themselves in the promotion of reproductive health, human development and/or population management who shall be appointed by the President from a list of nominees independently selected by the concerned NGOs.

3. Senate Bill No. 187
(Sen. Rodolfo Biazon)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING AN INTEGRATED POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY, STRENGTHENING ITS IMPLEMENTING MECHANISM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

SHORT TITLE:
Integrated Population and Development Act.

Declaration of Policies. - The State shall

• provide adequate social services,
• promote full employment, a rising standard of living and improved quality of life for all.
• protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology.
• ensure sustainable development and guarantee human rights
• recognize the dynamic interrelationships of population, development and environment integrate into national and local policies, programs, strategies the appropriation, allocation and mobilization of resources at all levels.

Implementing Mechanism

- national, regional, local and government agencies are tasked to integrate population, development and environment variables into the planning, implementation, allocation, mobilization of resources and evaluation of their respective programs.

The Commission on Population (POPCOM) shall serve as the central coordinating body for the implementation of this Act. It shall be an attached agency of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

The following agencies, in addition to their primary mandates and functions, are hereby tasked to effectively carry out the provisions of this Act:

NEDA, DOH, DILG, DENR, DSWD, DOLE, POEA, HUDCC, NAPC, NCRFW, NYC, TESDA, The UP Population Institute (UPPI), PIA, The Leagues, private sector: e.g. corporations, companies, enterprises, civil society shall be represented in the crafting of policies, and development of programs.

Prepared by Abeth Tiongco-Cruda, Senate Committee on Health