UN, former lawmakers alarmed at yanking of budget for contraceptives

MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE 2 – 2:10 p.m.) The P1 billion cut in the budget for contraceptives of the Department of Health has alarmed advocates of reproductive health.

On Thursday, a day after Health Secretary Janette Garin made the revelation, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and PhilHealth Director Risa Hontiveros issued emailed statements expressing concern.

Another former lawmaker, Albay’s Edcel Lagman, who was the principal author of the Reproductive Health Law, accused Senator Vicente Sotto III for the deletion of the budget for contraceptives during the bicameral conference committee.

“This is wrong,” Hontiveros said. “You shouldn’t just scrap the entire budget for family planning and contraceptives. This is a direct attack on the right of women to reproductive health. Women from low-income families will be deprived of family planning services, and in reality, these women need the government’s program the most.”

For his part, Klaus Beck, country representative of the UNFPA, said: “The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law has solidified the foundation of reproductive health and rights in the Philippines, but without funding for contraceptives, an essential element of any family planning program, the law will be ineffective.”

And Yoriko Yasukawa, UNFPA regional director for Asia and the Pacific, said: “Access to contraceptives is an essential condition for exercising the basic human right to health as well as the right to reproductive choices. Global evidence clearly shows that universal access to family planning is essential to prevent maternal and newborn deaths; is vital to achieving gender equality; and contributes to poverty reduction and inclusive development. We strongly encourage the reversal of the budget deletion.”

Senate’s fault

Lagman accused Sotto, who failed to block the RH Law, of deliberately stalling its implementation.

“The Congress, particularly the Senate, reneged on its obligation to adequately fund the speedy and full implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law,” he said.

“Due to the lack of funding in the 2016 General Appropriations Act, the government’s purchases of family planning commodities must be sourced by the DOH from its share in the incremental revenues from sin taxes or from the President’s Contingent Fund, in addition to the donations from foreign agencies,” he added.

The Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development, In a separate statement, called the deletion “unacceptable.”

“It deeply saddens us that the same institution that crafted the Reproductive Health Law agreed to defund its implementation,” Romeo Dongeto, PLCPD executive director, said. “This reverses the progress we have achieved so far in promoting reproductive health and ensuring that couples, especially women, are given better choices in planning their families to give their children a better future.”

“Without sufficient funding for family planning, we will not be able to achieve our goals to improve maternal health, especially of poor and young mothers,” Dongeto said.

High cost of pills

A monthly packet of birth control pills, Hontiveros pointed out, costs more than P200, around the same price as the daily minimum wage rate outside Metro Manila.

“Many women do not even earn minimum wage,” she said. “Requiring women to pay this out of pocket means that there will barely be any money left for the day for the household, or birth control is completely foregone.”

Hontiveros, a former member of House representing the Akbayan partylist group, said the Supreme Court had already rule the RH law constitutional, mandating the government to fully implement it.

“The implementation of the RH law will be adversely affected,” she said. “Relying on support from international funding agencies is not sustainable, and removes government’s responsibility to ensure full implementation of the law.”

Hontiveros said she would consult with women and health advocates on the course of action they would take as a result of this latest development.

“We did not fight for the RH Law just to see it become an unfunded mandate of the government,” she said. “We will fight for its full implementation for the sake of women and Filipino families.”

Continuity is vital

In its statement, the UNFPA acknowledged the resolve of the Aquino administration in implementing a strategic family planning program.

Citing figures from the National Demographic and Health Survey, the UNFPA said modern contraceptive use increased from 34 per cent in 2008 to 38 per cent in 2013.

“This in turn has contributed to a decrease in the maternal mortality ratio, or the number of deaths per 100,000 live births, from 129 in 2013 to 114 in 2015 based on United Nations estimates,” the UNFPA said.

The population growth rate, the agency said, also slowed down from 1.9 per cent in 2010 to 1.7 per cent in 2015.

“While the situation is still far from ideal, initial steps undertaken by government to ensure greater access to family planning for the poorest of the poor who need it most have begun to show positive, beneficial results,” the UNFPA added. “Failure to sustain this commitment can swiftly reverse gains and put the country in a more difficult position to achieve its vital development target to reduce maternal deaths.”

Budget cut out by Senate

In a forum conducted last Wednesday, Garin said the budget was removed during the deliberation of the Bicameral Committee of the House of Representatives and Senate.”We had it in our budget. Congress approved the budget,” she said.

“Unfortunately, during bicam conference, we were informed, tinanggal ang lahat budget on all contraceptives – P1 bilion… Senate daw.”

Garin said the budget could have been given to other departments.

The P1 billion was supposedly for the purchase family planning contraceptives – condoms, pills, intrauterine devices, and pills – that the DOH would give away for free.

The DOH are also issuing condoms as part of its campaign against HIV-AIDS.

“Malaki ang impact nito lalo na sa HIV kasi condoms ang protection nila,” Garin said. “Marami ding nanay na sa amin umaasa para sa contraceptives nila.”

The Philippine population is expected to increase to 104 milion this year, up from 102.4 milion in 2015.

The country also faces an increase in case of HIV/AIDS primarily among men who have sex with men.

According to Garin, the DOH still has some contraceptives left over from 2015, but they would last only during the first three months of this year. –Jet Villa and Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon.com