Senators support Aquino’s stand on reproductive health

Three senators on Tuesday supported President Benigno Simeon Aquino III’s stand that the government should educate the public on responsible parenthood and informed choice in family planning.

Malacañang said on Tuesday Aquino will not change his stand on responsible parenthood despite the Catholic Church’s opposition to the use of artificial birth control methods.

Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., co-author of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill when he was congressman, said he and other proponents of the bill were delighted to have found an ally in Aquino despite being faced with opposition from the Catholic church.

“Napakalaking pangangailangan ng taong-bayan dito sa pagtulong ng pamahalaan para sa pag-plano ng ating mga pamilya (The public really need the government’s help in making informed choices about family planning),” he told reporters in an interview.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile commended Aquino for having an “open mind” that would help him make better decisions. “I think it’s proper that a leader like him must not have a closed mind,” he said in a separate interview.

Senator Pia Cayetano meanwhile urged various sectors to keep an open mind about Aquino’s stand on reproductive health. She likewise asked them not to link the President’s stand to the $434-million Millennium Challenge grant.

“Reproductive health concerns cannot be ignored. With or without it (the grant), family planning is an issue that is long overdue, and should be discussed in the open,” she said in a statement.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda on Tuesday described as “unfair” and “below the belt” Fr. Melvin Castro’s reported claim that the president’s support for responsible parenthood is linked to the $434-million grant from Millennium Challenge Corporation for Philippine social welfare programs.

Castro was quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as saying that the government is “selling out the Filipino soul” for “that measly sum of money in the name of fighting poverty.”

Catholic Church’s stand on family planning

The Catholic Church promotes only natural family planning (NFP) and is opposed to the use of artificial birth control methods such as condoms and birth-control pills, saying these could lead to promiscuity and a rise in abortion cases.

NFP has two distinct forms:
* Ecological breastfeeding (a form of child care that normally spaces babies about two years apart on the average), and

* Systematic NFP (a system that uses a woman’s signs of fertility to determine the fertile and infertile times of her cycle).

A married couple who wants to avoid pregnancy is encouraged to practice chaste abstinence during the fertile time of the woman’s cycle.

Aquino, however, said that the couples would be in the “best position to determine what is best for their family” and the methods that they can use.

Aquino’s achievements

Meanwhile, the senators lauded Aquino’s achievements during his weeklong US trip.

Marcos said it is a good thing that the President met important statesmen from other countries aside from the United States. “It is very important that we have that continued dialogue with the other (nations),” he said.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III also praised Aquino for bringing home investment pledges.

Aquino said he secured the commitment of at least 43,650 new jobs for Filipinos in the next three years, including some 4,500 in construction-related jobs. – VVP, GMANews.TV