RH Bill Infomercial

We urge our legislators to pass the the Reproductive Health Bill this year. The link below shows why we need a comprehensive RH program here in the Philippines.

http://likhaancente rforwomenshealth .blogspot. com

Spoof and Tragedy

The president is on time. Her purple gown is big and wraps her shoulders like a protective gear. She is flanked by sunglass-sporting escorts and piña-clad lawmakers. The carpet is red and waiting.

As she walks to take her place in front of the giant Philippine flag, the president’s body language tells the audience she is upbeat. She waves like a movie star, nodding in all directions as if she knew everybody in sight. She is giggly like the colegiala she once was, fixing her hair compulsively and tilting her head just a little too much that you wonder whether her neck isn’t aching already.

She calls the attention of the Senate president for being too busy hitting the key pads of his cellular phone. He mumbles something about going after his lost pre-paid credits and wanting to download videos into his phone. And then the president starts addressing the nation, telling her countrymen that it is an important junction in history— Michael Jackson is dead and Santino has spoken to Bro.

It was a typical mock Sona, this one that took place at the Bahay Alumni at the University of the Philippines last Wednesday. The President is portrayed as the vain, shallow, glory-seeking, and truth-selective chief executive who bothers with trivial details and offers simplistic fixes to complex national issues. To a certain point, this mock exercise differs little from all the other imitations of the event that takes place today at the Batasan. Numerous other groups are out there to deliver their own versions of the president’s speech. The general idea is to ridicule the chief executive for her misplaced priorities and her doublespeak.

But this event stops being one of many mock Sonas when, toward the middle of the address, the president—the actor playing the role of Gloria Arroyo, that is—is confronted by her conscience. She is asked why there is no mention at all of the government’s reproductive health program in her speech. But it’s not an urgent issue, the president says. It’s the economy that matters. Women in dasters protest. This is just as urgent. And so this Sona—The State-of-The-Nanay Address—takes a different turn.

Veiled women, harbingers of sad stories, rattle off bleak figures for the president’s consumption. More than four thousand women, eleven in a day, die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related, but otherwise preventable causes. Thirty percent of pregnancies occur in minors. An estimated 400 thousand women undergo abortions every year. Sixty percent of married women do not anymore want to increase the number of their children, if only the knowledge and the service were available to them.

These do not include yet the more comprehensive—and disheartening—findings of international agency Save the Children Inc. in its State of Filipino Mothers Index 2008. Nor does it include the findings of the Social Weather Stations in October 2008 that 76 percent of Filipinos want family planning education in schools and 71 percent favor the passage of the reproductive health bill.

The figures are many and overwhelming but they point to the same message: something is wrong. Despite the Philippines’ impressive ranking in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report (the country is the best performing among all developing nations), Filipino women, specifically the poor and uneducated, are held hostage by poverty and lack of access to information that would enable them to give their children a better quality of life—and themselves enough health protection and power to determine their living conditions.

Now comes the reproductive health bill, also known as the Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008, pending in both houses of Congress. The bill seeks to institutionalize the public’s access to family planning information and tools. It also paves the way for age-appropriate reproductive health education among children and adolescents. The bill’s advocates claim they have more than enough signatures from lawmakers to pass the bill and put it on the President’s table. But the chances of the bill ever making it to Malacañang are getting dimmer by the day.

For one, President Arroyo—the real one—has not shown any interest in seeing to it that the bill is enacted. Before the United Nations General Assembly one day in September 2005, during evaluations of member-nations’ progress in attaining Millennium Development Goals (Goal 5 pertains to bringing down the rate of maternal mortality), Mrs. Arroyo is reported to have said: “We expect the United Nations to respect the deep Catholicism of the vast majority of the Filipino people.” Four years, and it doesn’t seem as though the President is changing her mind. Whether it’s religious conviction or political expediency masquerading as religious conviction, she doesn’t seem inclined to sign the bill when it makes it to her desk. But at least she can do nothing and let it lapse.

At this point, however, there is still something she can do. She can certify the bill as urgent and require Congress, whose sessions begin anew today, to pass it within 20 session days.

That’s also the suggestion of the “konsyensya” to the Arroyo impostor during the mock Sona. Towards the end of the address, the President “sees the light” and heeds the suggestion. Is that a realistic expectation or a far-fetched dream? Reproductive health advocates are worried, especially since House Speaker Prospero Nograles has released a list of his priority measures which conspicuously does NOT include RH bill.

Admittedly, the timing is off. Elections are coming in less than a year and our lawmakers would not dare fall out of the graces of the Catholic Church hierarchy lest their chances (or the chances of their wives, children, brothers or sisters in case they are now on their last term) be compromised. Tragically, religious organizations can still make or break a politician these days. The public and the politicians themselves are not without fault for preserving this dynamo.

These lawmakers elected to represent the people conveniently set aside their constituents’ wishes for political expediency. (Of course I am talking about those who secretly support the bill but are too cowardly to do it publicly. We respect the views of those staunchly against it on the basis of their legitimate moral beliefs.)

Despite this, reproductive health advocates are psyched to fight it out these next few weeks. Anybody who believes that putting in place a national reproductive health program is less important than ramming Charter change down our throats these days is either stupid or does not really love his country.

Article by Adelle Chua, Manila Standard Today, July 27, 2009

Survey: Most Pinoys Back Reproductive Health Bill

Six out of 10 Filipino adults are in favor of the controversial bill promoting family planning and the use of contraceptives despite opposition from the Church, according to a survey released yesterday.

Pulse Asia’s October 2008 Ulat ng Bayan Survey found 63 percent of Filipinos in favor of the reproductive health (RH) bill, eight percent not in favor and 29 percent ambivalent on the matter.

The Catholic Church, which counts over 80 percent of Filipinos as followers, has said the bill, which has been pending in Congress for months, is headed for defeat after a high-profile campaign by bishops.

The country’s population now stands at around 90 million, with an annual growth rate of 2.04 percent, one of the highest in Asia and above the government’s target of 1.9 percent, officials have warned.

The Pulse Asia survey also found eight in 10 Filipinos or 82 percent think government should not only educate couples regarding modern methods of family planning but also provide them with services and materials on these methods.

The same survey showed 68 percent of Filipinos are aware of the measure and only 32 percent do not know about the bill.

The non-commissioned survey, conducted from Oct. 14 to 27, used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults 18 years old and above.

“Across all geographic areas and socio-economic groupings, majorities (60 percent to 89 percent) know about the proposed legislation with the highest level of public awareness being recorded in the best-off socio-economic Class ABC,” Pulse Asia said.

In contrast, lack of awareness is most pronounced in Mindanao and Class E (38 percent and 40 percent, respectively) , it said.

Pulse Asia said majorities ranging from 56 percent in the Visayas to 79 percent in Class ABC are in favor of the bill.

Eight percent are not in favor of the bill, while 29 percent are unable to say whether or not they support the bill.

Public ambivalence on the matter is more notable in the Visayas, Mindanao, and Class E (32 percent to 35 percent) than in Class ABC and Metro Manila (13 percent to 21percent), Pulse Asia said.

Among the eight percent of Filipinos who do not favor the proposed legislation, additional survey findings showed that 47 percent of them agree with the need to promote information and access to natural and modern family planning methods.

Nearly seven in 10 Filipinos or 69 percent agree with the provision of the bill recognizing the rights of women and couples to choose the family planning method they want. About the same percentages either agree or disagree (36 percent versus 35 percent) with the inclusion of sex education in school curricula.

Funding for modern family planning

Forty-four percent believe government funds should be used to support modern family planning methods. Indecision on these issues is expressed by 20 percent to 33 percent of Filipinos, while disagreement is articulated by 10 percent to 35 percent.

Public disagreement is most manifest in relation to the proposal to include sex education in the school curricula (35 percent).

Pulse Asia said most Filipinos (82 percent) think government should teach couples about modern methods of family planning (both natural and artificial methods) – a view articulated by big to overwhelming majorities (76 percent to 91 percent) in all geographic areas and socio-economic classes.

Pulse Asia said exactly the same percentage says that it is the government’s duty to provide the people with knowledge, services, and materials on modern methods of family planning. This sentiment is expressed by 78 percent to 87 percent across all geographic areas and socio-economic groupings.

Less than one in 10 Filipinos (six percent to eight percent) disagree with either view, while indecision on these matters is expressed by 10 percent to 13 percent of Filipinos, Pulse Asia said.

The survey also revealed that about four in 10 Filipinos (44 percent) say the government should pass a law specifying the number of children couples may have.

“Thirty-six percent are not inclined to do the same,” Pulse Asia said. “Almost two in 10 (19 percent) are undecided on the matter.”

Across geographic areas and socio-economic classes, big pluralities to small majorities (45 percent to 58 percent) in Metro Manila, the Visayas, Mindanao, and Classes D and E favor the idea of government passing a law on the number of children couples may have, Pulse Asia said.

In contrast, a near majority (47 percent) of those in the rest of Luzon do not think government should pass such a law while in the poorest Class E, almost the same percentages express either agreement or disagreement (42 percent versus 40 percent) with this proposal.

Religious influence

While 49 percent of Filipinos say couples should follow what their religion tells them about family planning, 44 percent are ambivalent as regards the possibility of their church or religion influencing their vote for a candidate advocating modern family planning methods.

“Big pluralities to sizeable majorities (41 percent to 68 percent) across all geographic areas and socio-economic groupings are of the view that couples should follow the dictates of their religion when it comes to the issue of family planning,” Pulse Asia said. “This sentiment is most manifest in the Visayas and least pronounced in the rest of Luzon.”

On the other hand, around the same percentages of Filipinos are either ambivalent on the matter or do not agree that couples are obliged to abide by the teachings of their religion on family planning (27 percent against 23 percent).

When it comes to the impact of their church or religion on their decision as to whether or not to vote for a candidate supporting modern family planning methods, indecision is the predominant public sentiment at the national level (44 percent) and particularly in the rest of Luzon, the Visayas, and Classes D and E (42 percent to 52 percent), Pulse Asia said.

In contrast, 34 percent of Filipinos say there is a big possibility their vote would be influenced by their church or religion while 21 percent express a contrary opinion.

Pulse Asia’s survey has sampling error margins of plus or minus three percent at the 95 confidence level.

Bill advocates rejoice

A pro-reproductive health bill advocate said yesterday that the latest results of the Pulse Asia survey had only reinforced their stand that a majority of Filipinos support the bill.

“The survey had only reiterated what other surveys have said – that most of the Filipino people want the bill passed. I hope that those opposing this will listen this time,” said Beth Angsioco, secretary-general of the Reproductive Health Alliance Network (RHAN).

Angsioco also urged the Catholic hierarchy to keep an open mind on the bill.

Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros, one of the main authors of House Bill 5043, or the “Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development Act of 2008,” said this only proves even more the need to pass such an important law.

“It’s another win for the RH bill. Majority of the respondents, and we presume many of them are Catholics, want the government to spend for this. Majority of them says that this is a political issue,” she told the media in a briefing

Hontiveros, along with the other RH bill authors, are likewise hopeful that Catholic bishops would finally hold a dialogue with them on the issue, and that the “heart” of the measure – providing a free and responsible choice for couples – would not be sacrificed.

Another RH bill main author, Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay, highlighted the “persistent negative reports that 11 Filipino women die daily” due to pregnancy and childbirth as one of the reasons for the immediate passage of the bill.

Such a statistic, according to him, makes the Philippines among the worst performing countries in improving maternal health care.

The House leadership decided December last year to defer deliberations on the reproductive health bill until they resumed their sessions yesterday, owing to fierce debates that sometimes got too personal.

GMA firm on stand, but…

Malacañang reiterated that the position of President Arroyo remains the same on the issue of birth control but said she would take into consideration the different sentiments of all sectors.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said the opinion of the people, including that of respondents in the surveys, would be taken into consideration by the President if and when the reproductive health bill is passed by Congress and reaches her office for her signature.

Mrs. Arroyo has always supported natural family planning as a means of birth control and has advocated this through the various government agencies. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Delon Porcalla, Marvin Sy


Source: Phil. Star 20 January 2009