Condom budget is OK–Palace

MANILA, Philippines—The Aquino administration would make do with whatever amount Congress had allocated for its budget for responsible parenthood, Malacañang said Saturday.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte made the remark after the Senate slashed a huge P872 million from the Department of Health’s P880-million budget for contraceptives.

The funds were then re-aligned to the allocation for state universities and colleges (SUCs) whose students have protested the supposed cuts in their schools’ respective allocations under the proposed budget.

“We’ve always said that we are for responsible parenthood and we would support whatever decision the parents make (as to their choice of birth control methods),” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said over government-run radio station dzRB.

“Whatever means they choose, we will help them afford their use… So we will work with what we have,” she added. Norman Bordadora, Philippine Daily Inquirer