Pia to DOH: Family planning should remain a priority

Responsible parenthood requires access to services and information on family planning. The state has no business intervening in couples' decisions on the number of children they want, but it is the state's obligation to provide them with necessary information and services on family planning methods to help them make informed choices.

On this note, Senator Pia S. Cayetano warned the Department of Health (DOH) against placing family planning at the bottom of its priorities, saying the government cannot just shut its eyes to the ballooning population problem.

"The country has reason to be seriously alarmed if 1.8 million are added to the Philippine population every year, and their chances of being fed, clothed and educated are slim. A big population is not necessarily a negative thing, but it is government's duty to nurture that growing population."

Currently there are 88.7 million Filipinos, up from 76.5 million seven years ago when the last national census was conducted. Seven years from now, there will be 100 million Filipinos at an explosive growth rate of 2.36% per year.

"Around 206 babies are born per hour, that's three babies per minute. These facts are simply too hard to ignore and it would be a great disservice if the DOH decides to leave couples in the dark on vital information on family planning and responsible parenthood," said Cayetano, citing figures from the National Statistics Office.

Senator Cayetano, recently reappointed chairperson of the Senate Committee Health and Demography, issued the statement in reaction to Secretary Francisco Duque's pronouncement that the DOH would be prioritizing maternal health care, while pushing for family planning merely as a "complementary strategy" for the segment of women who need it.

"With all due respect to the health secretary, I don't think a conflict should exist at all between maternal health and family planning. Both are intrinsically related and fall within the ambit of reproductive health," she explained.

"While I strongly support the initiative to arrest the problem of high maternal deaths, now one of the worst in Southeast Asia, I don't think this should be ranged against efforts to also promote both natural family planning methods and contraceptives, especially among poor women."

Stressing her point further, she said women who have access to information on reproductive health and family planning methods would naturally face lesser risks of complications and death when giving birth.

Based on census figures, only half of married women are using family planning methods. On the other hand, the bottom 20 percent of women have no access to information on family planning at all.