This isn’t going to make everyone happy, but it’s probably what the country needs.
President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an Executive Order pushing for “zero unmet need for modern family planning” for all poor households.
Signed Jan 9 and released on Jan 11, Executive Order No. 12 highlights the “right of Filipinos to decide freely and responsibly on their desired number and spacing of children, within the context of responsible parenthood and informed choice.”
It prioritizes getting “any method of contraception” to two million poor women who have no access birth control.
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Ernesto Pernia said that the socio-economic goals of the Duterte administration will not be met it the Filipino population growth isn’t controlled.
“The government hopes to reduce poverty to 13 percent by the end of Duterte’s six-year term in 2022, the socio-economic manager added,” reports CNN Philippines.
Local government units were instructed to review the needs of their communities, and identify families and individuals who might benefit from family planning services.
Government agencies such as the Department of Education, PhilHealth and the Philippine Commission on Women were mobilized as well.
The Department of Budget and Management “may realign and augment appropriations” for the Executive Order.
According to a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act (RPRH Law) signed by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2012 but it “got stymied” by conservative pro-life groups, who filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC).
The high court said that RPRH was unconstitutional.
“The high court also issued a TRO in connection with the government’s procurement, selling, distributing and promoting contraceptive implants,” says Inquirer.
Pernia is hoping that the Supreme Court will lift the TRO, with this EO from Duterte.
