Sotto names group behind P25-M lobby funds to push RH bill okay

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III yesterday revealed that the biggest manufacturer of contraceptives, including condoms, is the alleged sponsor of an international group that allegedly unleashed P25-million lobby funds to push Congress’ approval of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

The upper chamber leader, during a radio interview, identified a company called DKT as one of the firms he is claiming to be funding the purported campaign for the approval of the measure.

“DKT is the biggest supporter of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), which happens to have affiliates such as the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines FPOP), Likhaan organization…,” he told dzBB radio.

The said company is the local distributor of Trust condoms in the Philippines, the Senate leader said.

FPOP, which, according to Sotto, received last year P25-million funds supposedly to lobby before Congress the approval of the RH bill, has admitted being a “proud” member of the IPPF which supports and pushes abortion.

Sotto pointed out that non-government organizations (NGOs) like FPOP and Likhaan have been receiving foreign funding to push a national policy on artificial birth control methods, including abortion, as a means of controlling the population.

“They also received support-funds froms USAID,” he added.

A check on Internet yielded a company called DKT International which claims to be a “non-profit organization that has been promoting family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention through social marketing in the developing world.”

Its Web site also boasted that the company “has sold over half a billion condoms, almost 70 million cycles of oral contraceptives, over 12 million injectable contraceptives, over 800,000 IUDs and over 10 million misoprostol pills. Today, DKT is the largest private provider of reproductive health products and services in the developing world.”

“I think my colleagues who are pushing this measure, should first convince the youth on the need for this law because there are a number of other young minds who are asking about the benefits of the bill. From what I heard of the forum, whenever they were confronted by issues against RH bill, they resorting to giving jokes. This is not a laughing matter,” Sotto said.

The senator was referring to a recent inter-university forum where Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Pia Cayetano – co-sponsors in the proposed upper chamber version of the RH bill, Senate Bill 2865 – faced students from various universities and spoke of the said measure.

After explaining the importance and necessity of the bill and why the measure is proving to be highly controversial among the stakeholders, Santiago enjoined the students to “send an email to every single senator and congressman, tell him you are watching, and that you will not vote for him forevermore if he is anti-RH.”

“Not only that: campaign actively against anti-RH creatures. Take our campaign to Facebook, Twitter, Google, blogs, and every form of social media,” Santiago said.

“Regardless of their denial, those who are pushing this bill are pro-abortion. Population control really is the agenda behind this measure. These groups, which even teaches abortion methods, have long been wanting to gain entry here in the Philippines but they’re having serious difficulties because we do not have RH bill. And they want the government to spend P3 billion for these contraceptives? Do they think that we’re that stupid? We could put it to better use than buying contraceptives,” Sotto pointed out. –Angie M. Rosales, Daily Tribune