Former DSWD chief hit for statement on RH bill

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez yesterday lambasted former Social Welfare and Development secretary Esperanza Cabral for her misleading statements on the health risks posed by contraceptive pills on women.

Golez said that it is ironic for Cabral, a doctor, to espouse the exposure of women to the risks of breast cancer to promote contraceptives.

“I am happy that former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral finally admitted what the anti-RH group has been stating for years: that oral contraceptives “posed a higher risk of breast cancer,” Golez said.

“I am, however, shocked that she, a doctor, was quoted as dismissing the breast cancer risk as a bad side effect because of the “good side effect” of oral contraceptives in reducing the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer. She, a doctor, knows that a person with a generally super healthy body would still die with only one cancerous vital organ,” Golez said.

Golez pointed out that proponents of the Reproductive Health bill are exposing women to greater risk of cancer.

“In effect, she (Cabral) is saying: ‘Prevent ovarian and endometrial cancer by increasing risk of breast cancer. It’s your choice which cancer you want,” the Parañaque lawmaker said.

He said that former Secretary Cabral should also admit that, per records at the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, breast cancer is the No. 1 type of cancer among women in the US where use of oral contraceptives is very popular. Ovarian and endometrial cancer is much lower.

The Catholic Church, in a pastoral letter, debunked claims by advocates that the RH bill promotes reproductive health.

The pastoral letter, read in all the churches nationwide, pointed out that the RH bill certainly does not promote reproductive health.

“It does not protect the health of the sacred human life that is being formed or born. The very name “contraceptive” already reveals the anti-life nature of the means that the RH bill promotes. These artificial means are fatal to human life, either preventing it from fruition or actually destroying it. Moreover, scientists have known for a long time that contraceptives may cause cancer. Contraceptives are hazardous to a woman’s health,” the pastoral letter said.

The Church pointed out that many scientific analysts themselves wonder why prevalent contraceptive use sometimes raises the abortion rate. In truth, contraceptives provide a false sense of security that takes away the inhibition to sexual activity. Scientists have noted numerous cases of contraceptive failure. Abortion is resorted to, an act that all religious traditions would judge as sinful. “Safe sex” to diminish abortion rate is false propaganda.

The Church further debunked what advocates claim that the RH bill will prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

“This goes against the grain of many available scientific data. In some countries where condom use is prevalent, HIV/ AIDS continues to spread. Condoms provide a false security that strongly entices individuals towards increased sexual activity, increasing likewise the incidence of HIV/AIDS. “Safe sex” to prevent HIV /AIDS is false propaganda.”

On the issue of the bills ability to solve overpopulation, the church stressed that: “Our own government statistical office has concluded that there is no overpopulation in the Philippines but only the over-concentration of population in a number of urban centers.”

Despite other findings to the contrary, we must also consider the findings of a significant group of renowned economic scholars, including economic Nobel laureates, who have found no direct correlation between population and poverty. In fact, many Filipino scholars have concluded that population is not the cause of our poverty. The causes of our poverty are: flawed philosophies of development, misguided economic policies, greed, corruption, social inequities, lack of access to education, poor economic and social services, poor infrastructures, etc. World organizations estimate that in our country more than P400 billion pesos are lost yearly to corruption. The conclusion is unavoidable: for our country to escape from poverty, we have to address the real causes of poverty and not population. –Gerry Baldo, Daily Tribune