The Great Debate (2)

SENATOR Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto’s recent string of plagiarized speeches has certainly taken the cake as one of the Philippines most talked-about current issues. His speeches, however, have not debunked the Reproductive Health Bill.

As a matter of fact, more and more advocates and detractors have called for speedy action on the bill in order to, once and for all, settle the score. Even now, the RH Bill is under fire as debates on the controversial bill rage on.

On necessity: 11 mothers dying every day, mere duplicity?

When discussing the necessity of a certain policy, the primary concern is the clamor for it. If the people demand for a certain change or policy, its necessity is already backed, and the government must ensure that it is, at the very least, considered or thought of.

A study conducted by the Social Weather Stations in the second quarter of 2011 found that majority of those surveyed (73 percent) agreed with the statement, “if a couple wants to plan its family, it should be able to get information from government on all legal methods.” Furthermore, the study also found that 68 percent also agree that “the government should fund all means of family planning, be it natural or artificial means.” These results point toward one thing: that there is, indeed, a clamor from the people for comprehensive information with regard to family planning methods.

However, demand from the people is not the sole determinant of a policy’s necessity. Other factors and circumstances must also be considered. For the RH Bill, the rising maternal mortality rate, the poor living conditions of large families, and the lopsided distribution of means are some of its driving forces.

In the second part of his turno en contra speech, Sen. Sotto challenged the veracity of the result of a study stating that 11 mothers die every day due to complications in child birth and abortion. This statistic is one of the driving forces of the RH Bill — one reason for its necessity. Sen. Sotto even provided alternative statistics, stating that only 5 mothers die of childbirth, which is a far cry from the reported 11 mothers dying per day, creating the impression that maternal mortality has started to decline.

It is true that maternal mortality rates have been on the decline. This is, however, true only until 2008, when the lowest maternal mortality rate was recorded. Data from the Department of Health showed that maternal deaths increased from 94 in 2008 to 162 per 100,000 live births in 2009.

The scenario did not get any better in the years that followed.
According to Health Secretary Enrique Ona, maternal mortality rates rose in 2011, bringing the figure to 221 deaths per 100,000 live births. This figure has been the highest-recorded since 1990’s 180 deaths per 100,000 live births.

This alarming increase in maternal mortality indicates that current reproductive health services are insufficient in addressing the needs of mothers and are, contrary to what others would like to believe, not on the road to improvement.

In addition to the rise of maternal deaths, teen pregnancy in the Philippines has been steadily climbing up and was recorded the highest among Southeast Asia’s major economies. In fact, the prevalence of teenage pregnancies has risen by 70 percent in the past 10 years. This predicament had National Youth Commissioner Perci Cendaña calling for hastened action with regard to the RH Bill, stating that one of the bill’s advocacies — providing age-appropriate reproductive health education — would help ease the rising teen pregnancy rate and would instill much-needed responsibility in the youth.

While many have recognized the need for family planning and sufficient information on it, some have argued that a policy on it would not be necessary, as some health facilities offer information on and methods of family planning, and these are made available to those who want it.

Here actually lies the problem.

The fact that only some health facilities offer the information is already a problem, as those facilities that do not offer information on family planning have already denied people of availing the information. Moreover, information and methods are not available to those who want it. Poorer women and families are not able to access family planning methods, since they do not have the means to do so.
In short, family planning has become like education — only available to those who can. Results from the 2011 Family Health Survey found that poorer households are less likely to use family planning methods, as modern methods are less accessible to women in poor households. Positive action on the RH Bill would help bridge the gap in what Juan Miguel Luz calls a two-class society. As such, the RH Bill is necessary not only to promote and advance the wellness of mothers, but also to ensure that everyone, whether or not they have means, would be able to access comprehensive reproductive health services. –CLEMENCE CRUZ, IDEA, Businessworld

Link to SWS report: http://www.sws.org.ph/pr20110811.htm

The Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis (IDEA), Inc. is a non-stock, non-partisan institution dedicated to high-quality economic research, instruction, and communication. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the organization. For questions and inquiries, please contact Remrick Patagan via ideainc.mail@gmail.com or telefax no. 920-6872.