Mothers in indigent communities would greatly benefit from the passage of the Reproductive health (RH) bill now being debated in Congress by getting better access to modern family planning methods.
Sen. Pia Cayetano, chair of the Senate committees on health and demography and youth, women and children, stressed this point during heated plenary debates on the bill.
Citing different names and cases of women, Cayetano said many of them would want to avail themselves of contraceptives from local health centers but could not do so as many local government units (LGUs) have passed ordinances banning use of contraceptives.
She said she does not believe the contention of a colleague, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, a staunch critic of the Rh bill, who believes contraceptives should be the least of local governments’ priorities.
“I don’t believe that contraceptives should not be a priority. It does not have to be number one priority, but if you look and take the time to speak to these women, it is very important to many of them to plan their families,” Cayetano said.
The senator said it is vital for RH services to be made available and accessible to women in respective towns or barangays as opposed to making them avail of these services elsewhere. Historically, she said women traditionally bear the brunt of suffering with their children.
For most of the poor, any additional expense would already pose a problem, like the transportation fare they would need, for instance, to travel to and from their barangay all the way to the Department of Health (DoH) or a television station in the hopes of getting assistance.
“It is the women who have to balance the household budget and they are the ones who are forced to make decisions like sending their children to the province, giving up their children to a neighbor, giving up their children to a stranger, leaving their child at the door of a rich neighbor, leaving their children inside a basket in the church,” she said.
“Women do these not because they do not want to be a mother to these children, but because they do not know how to feed their children. And they will explore; they need to find ways to support their children and plan their families,” said Cayetano.
At the same time, Cayetano lauded Sen. Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr. for standing up and defending her point by sharing his own experience as a governor.
Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on local government and has manifested his support for the RH Bill, said, “In my experience in local government, this kind of problem comes to us very often. And it is precisely this reason why I have thrown my hat in support of the RH Bill.”
“If there is a mandate from the national government that the LGU can ask for assistance under the auspices of this proposed law [RH Bill], then I guarantee that every local government official will try everything possible, do everything they can to help,” Marcos said.
“It is not being done not because it is not the desire of the LGU to help but because there is no clear guidance as to how these kinds of problems are handled, and secondly, there is no funding for the LGUs to be able to provide that service,” he said.
Most of the time, Marcos said the problem “does not always boil down to money” saying that it is the education facet of the measure that is very significant.
“If we give the capability to the LGU, then they would be able to exercise that ability and provide better assistance to their constituents,” Marcos said.
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This Balitang Pinoy / Philippine News update has been brought to you by the radio programTalakayan at Kalusugan in partnership with Bansang Pilipinas, The Big NM – Network Management for Filipinos, Best Philippine Attractions, and Magandang Ideya
source of the article:http://talakayanatkalusugan.com/2011/08/27/rh-bill-benefits-poor-mothers/
House RH Bill Author Wants Funding for Health Programs
September 7, 2011
One of the principal authors of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill in the House of Representatives yesterday urged her colleagues to pass the measure to ensure funding for reproductive health services from the national government.
“As it is today, the lack of a comprehensive national law on RH worsens the condition (maternal mortality) as there is no assured budget for family planning and reproductive health education and services,” Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin said.
She said funding for maternal and child health programs is dependent on local chief executives.
“The RH law will standardize reproductive health services across the country,” Garin said.
“We call on the anti-RH groups to refrain from confusing the public, making it appear that there is no need for this law, just to push for their agenda of blocking the passage of the bill,” she added.
In an earlier interview, Shiv Khare, executive director of the Thailand-based Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD), said the Philippines will be able to get more foreign grants for women’s rights and reproductive health programs once the RH bill is enacted into law.
Khare said the passage of the measure could remove existing legal barriers and motivate more foreign aid agencies to fund such projects.
Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy noted that three million Filipino couples do not have access to family planning services and that over 3,700 women die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth every year.
She said that this year, the Aquino government has allocated some P731.4 million for family health, including family planning/responsible parenthood, and P150 million for maternal and newborn child health and nutrition.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III continued his attacks against the RH bill, saying that even though the measure does not promote or support abortion, it has certain provisions that may be misinterpreted.
Citing a section of the proposed bill, Sotto said that “while this Act does not amend the penal law on abortion, the government shall ensure that all women needing care for post-abortion complications shall be treated and counseled in a humane, non-judgmental and compassionate manner.”
Another section of the bill states that “each family shall have the right to determine its ideal family size provided, however, that the State shall equip each parent with the necessary information on all aspects of family life including RH, in order to make that determination.
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This Balitang Pinoy / Philippine News update has been brought to you by the radio programTalakayan at Kalusugan in partnership with Bansang Pilipinas, The Big NM – Network Management for Filipinos, Best Philippine Attractions, and Magandang Ideya
