With the latest Ph
population count, RH advocates urge Congress anew: Pass the RH bill
now
By PLCPD
April
11, 2012
QUEZON CITY –
Following results of the 2010 Population and Housing Survey by the
National Statistics Office (NSO), a group of leading reproductive
health (RH) advocates calls on Congress anew to pass the highly
clamored RH bill.
Ramon San Pascual,
Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development
Foundation (PLCPD) Executive Director reminds Congress of its
obligation to enact a law that will institutionalize the provision of
a comprehensive reproductive health education and services.
“The figures revealed
by the latest NSO census, underscores the need for a firmer and more
comprehensive provision of RH education and services,” said San
Pascual. “These figures say that all the more, the government needs
population and development planning, which can be provided through an
RH law,” he explained.
The Philippines
population growth rate of 1.9 percent, which is still one of the
highest in Asia, is the result of the absence of comprehensive RH
policy aggravated further by the lack of access to family planning
education and services by the poor.
Citing the 2008
National Demographic and Health Survey, San Pascual laments that
thirty three (33) percent of the total pregnancies among Filipino
women are either mistimed or unplanned. “It is disheartening that as
we grow rapidly, the number of babies born comes from the poor, who in
the first place are not ready to carry the burden of having yet
another child or children for that matter. “
San Pascual notes that
the Philippines could manage our population growth rate if our
lawmakers and policymakers will bravely address the issue of unplanned
and mistimed pregnancies by providing RH education and services.
“It is expected to see
population growth rate going down, but we should not look at the
figures per se. We should understand that population is still growing
fast,” he said. “And the fact is, more babies are born from poor
families, from those who do not have access to comprehensive RH
education and services,” he stressed.
The controversial
House Bill 4244 or the “The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive
Health and Population and Development Act” and its Senate counterpart
SB 2378 are awaiting approval on second reading in both chambers of
Congress. Said bill is endorsed by the academe, interfaith based
organizations, labor and employers group, women, youth, peoples, and
civil society organizations.