Condom distribution continues to divide government, Catholic Church

The Philippines has a population of about 90 million, which is quite large for an archipelago measuring only 300,000 square kilometers.

With an above average population growth rate of 1.9 percent—the ideal is one percent—citizens will have to accept the fact that the population problem contributes to the rising cost of essential needs such as food, shelter and clothing.

This is the reason why Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay engineered a bill that would help curb population explosion in the Philippines. But the passage of the bill was left pending because the Catholic Church and pro-life groups strongly opposed it, saying it would create a promiscuous society and would wreck the moral fiber of Filipinos, particularly among the youth.

But House Bill 5043, Lagman said, could promote sustainable human development through information and access to both natural and modern family-planning methods.

The bill also addressed the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, an evidently good intention that many sectors may have overlooked.

According to a report from the Department of Health, there are two cases of HIV incidents reported every day compared to the year 2000 when there was one case in every three days.

In January this year alone, the number of HIV-infected persons hit an all-time high of 143 cases. Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral said since the start of 2009, an average of about 60 Filipinos have been diagnosed as HIV-positive each month. That figure spiked to 126 just in December.

“We’re alarmed over the sudden big increase of HIV infection cases since December 2009. At the rate we are going, in three years we are going to have more than 30,000 people with HIV/AIDS in the Philippines,” Cabral added.

In February 2010, the Health department distributed free condoms at the Dangwa flower market in Manila’s Sampaloc district to help curb the spread of the dreaded disease.

Church groups, civil-society groups, Catholic universities, candidates for president and many more slammed the move of the Health department.

The bishops even wanted Cabral kicked out of office because her condom-distribution project could “endanger the people’s morals.”

Archbishop Nero Odchimar, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said that the distribution of free condoms would promote sexual promiscuity especially among young Filipinos.

But other groups supported Cabral’s project, saying she should “keep up the good work.”

Former Health Secretary Alberto Romualdez said that he supports Cabral for “putting up a brave stand” against influential groups, including the Catholic Church.

“She only did the right thing. The point is, the supply of condoms needs to be in the public to prevent the spread of the disease,” Romualdez added.

The Philippines has had 4,424 reported HIV cases since 1984, of which 832 had developed into full-blown AIDS and 314 deaths had been reported, government figures show.

World Health Organization data showed that all over the world, there are 31.1 to 35.8 million people living with HIV, which destroys the immune system of a person.

The side that advocated free condom distribution to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, and the one that wanted to protect society’s moral fiber each made a strong argument when Cabral was caught in a whirlwind of controversy.

But in the end, the question remained as to how Filipinos will wage war against HIV. Church institutions said that battle could be won through abstinence and responsible parenting, while the government has resorted to distributing “protection” in the form of condoms.

In the meantime, the tool for preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS remains a taboo in Philippine culture—sex education. –DARENN G. RODRIGUEZ Special to the The Manila Times