Reference from:

UNFPA - because everyone counts.

Ms. Emee Lei E. Albano
Youth Advocate
United Nations Population Fund
O: 63 2 901-0331
F: 63 2 901-0348
http://www.unfpa.org
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that
promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal
opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to
reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young
person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.

Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Reproductive health bill: Facts, fallacies

By Rep. Edcel Lagman
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:46:00 08/03/2008

Filed Under: Family, Family planning, Population

(Editor’s Note: Upon the request of readers, we are running the salient features of the
proposed Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008. We asked its
principal author in the House of Representatives to present the main points of and
misconceptions about the bill. We hope that this issue will help readers reach an informed
opinion on the measure.)

THE BILL IS NATIONAL IN SCOPE, COMPREHENSIVE, rights-based and provides

adequate funding to the population program. It is a departure from the present setup in which the
provision for reproductive health services is devolved to local government units, and
consequently, subjected to the varying strategies of local government executives and suffers
from a dearth of funding.

The reproductive health (RH) bill promotes information on and access to both natural and
modern family planning methods, which are medically safe and legally permissible. It assures an
enabling environment where women and couples have the freedom of informed choice on the
mode of family planning they want to adopt based on their needs, personal convictions and
religious beliefs.
The bill does not have any bias for or against either natural or modern family planning. Both
modes are contraceptive methods. Their common purpose is to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

The bill will promote sustainable human development. The UN stated in 2002 that “family
planning and reproductive health are essential to reducing poverty.” The Unicef also asserts that
“family planning could bring more benefits to more people at less cost than any other single
technology now available to the human race.”

Coverage of RH. (1) Information and access to natural and modern family planning (2) Maternal,
infant and child health and nutrition (3) Promotion of breast feeding (4) Prevention of abortion
and management of post-abortion complications (5) Adolescent and youth health (6) Prevention
and management of reproductive tract infections, HIV/AIDS and STDs (7) Elimination of
violence against women (8) Counseling on sexuality and sexual and reproductive health (9)
Treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers (10) Male involvement and participation in
RH; (11) Prevention and treatment of infertility and (12) RH education for the youth.

Strengthening of Popcom. The existing Population Commission shall be reoriented to promote

both natural and modern family planning methods. It shall serve as the central planning,
coordinating, implementing and monitoring body for the comprehensive and integrated policy on
reproductive health and population development.

Capability building of community-based volunteer workers. The workers shall undergo

additional and updated training on the delivery of reproductive healthcare services and shall
receive not less than 10-percent increase in honoraria upon successful completion of training.

Midwives for skilled birth attendance. Every city and municipality shall endeavor to employ an
adequate number of midwives and other skilled attendants.

Emergency obstetrics care. Each province and city shall endeavor to ensure the establishment
and operation of hospitals with adequate and qualified personnel that provide emergency
obstetrics care.

Hospital-based family planning. Family planning methods requiring hospital services like
ligation, vasectomy and IUD insertion shall be available in all national and local government
hospitals.

Contraceptives as essential medicines. Reproductive health products shall be considered essential

medicines and supplies and shall form part of the National Drug Formulary considering that
family planning reduces the incidence of maternal and infant mortality.

Reproductive health education. RH education in an age-appropriate manner shall be taught by

adequately trained teachers from Grade 5 to 4th year high school. As proposed in the bill, core
subjects include responsible parenthood, natural and modern family planning, proscription and
hazards of abortion, reproductive health and sexual rights, abstinence before marriage, and
responsible sexuality.
Certificate of compliance. No marriage license shall be issued by the Local Civil Registrar unless
the applicants present a Certificate of Compliance issued for free by the local Family Planning
Office. The document should certify that they had duly received adequate instructions and
information on family planning, responsible parenthood, breast feeding and infant nutrition.

Ideal family size. The State shall encourage two children as the ideal family size. This is neither
mandatory nor compulsory and no punitive action may be imposed on couples having more than
two children.

Employers’ responsibilities. Employers shall respect the reproductive health rights of all their
workers. Women shall not be discriminated against in the matter of hiring, regularization of
employment status or selection for retrenchment. Employers shall provide free reproductive
health services and commodities to workers, whether unionized or unorganized.

Multimedia campaign. Popcom shall initiate and sustain an intensified nationwide multimedia
campaign to raise the level of public awareness on the urgent need to protect and promote
reproductive health and rights.

***

Smear offensive

Rep. Edcel C. Lagman

THERE IS A CONTINUING campaign to discredit the reproductive health bill through

misinformation. Straightforward answers to the negative propaganda will help educate and
enlighten people on the measure.

The bill is not antilife. It is proquality life. It will ensure that children will be blessings for their
parents since their births are planned and wanted. It will empower couples with the information
and opportunity to plan and space their children. This will not only strengthen the family as a
unit but also optimize care for children who will have more opportunities to be educated, healthy
and productive.

The bill does not interfere with family life. In fact, it enhances family life. The family is more
than a natural nucleus; it is a social institution whose protection and development are impressed
with public interest. It is not untouchable by legislation. For this reason, the State has enacted the
Civil Code on family relations, the Family Code, and the Child and Youth Welfare Code.

The bill does not legalize abortion. It expressly provides that “abortion remains a crime” and
“prevention of abortion” is essential to fully implement the Reproductive Health Care Program.
While “management of post-abortion complications” is provided, this is not to condone abortion
but to promote the humane treatment of women in life-threatening situations.

It will not lead to the legalization of abortion. It is not true that all countries where contraceptive
use is promoted eventually legalize abortion. Many Catholic countries criminalize abortion even
as they vigorously promote contraceptive use like Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Brazil, Chile,
Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Paraguay and
Ireland. The Muslim and Buddhist countries of Indonesia and Laos also promote contraceptive
use yet proscribe abortion. According to studies, correct and regular use of contraceptives
reduces abortion rates by as much as 85 percent and negates the need to legalize abortion.

Contraceptives do not have life-threatening side effects. Medical and scientific evidence shows
that all the possible medical risks connected with contraceptives are infinitely lower than the
risks of an actual pregnancy and everyday activities. The risk of dying within a year of riding a
car is 1 in 5,900. The risk of dying within a year of using pills is 1 in 200,000. The risk of dying
from a vasectomy is 1 in 1 million and the risk of dying from using an IUD is 1 in 10 million.
The probability of dying from condom use is absolutely zero. But the risk of dying from a
pregnancy is 1 in 10,000.

The bill will not promote contraceptive mentality. The bill does not prohibit pregnancy. Critics
are mistaken in claiming that because contraceptives would be readily available, people would
prefer to have no children at all. Couples will not stop wanting children simply because
contraceptives are available. Contraceptives are used to prevent unwanted pregnancies but not to
stop pregnancies altogether. Timed pregnancies are assured.

The bill does not impose a two-child policy. It does not promote a compulsory policy strictly
limiting a family to two children and no punitive action shall be imposed on parents with more
than two children. This number is not an imposition or is it arbitrary because results of the 2003
National Demographic and Health Survey show that the ideal of two children approximates the
desired fertility of women.

Sexuality education will neither spawn “a generation of sex maniacs” nor breed a culture of
promiscuity. Age-appropriate RH education promotes correct sexual values. It will not only
instill consciousness of freedom of choice but also responsible exercise of one’s rights. The UN
and countries which have youth sexuality education document its beneficial results:
understanding of proper sexual values is promoted; early initiation into sexual relations is
delayed; abstinence before marriage is encouraged; multiple-sex partners is avoided; and spread
of sexually transmitted diseases is prevented.

It does not claim that family planning is the panacea for poverty. It simply recognizes the
verifiable link between a huge population and poverty. Unbridled population growth stunts
socioeconomic development and aggravates poverty. The connection between population and
development is well-documented and empirically established.

UN Human Development Reports show that countries with higher population growth invariably
score lower in human development. The Asian Development Bank in 2004 also listed a large
population as one of the major causes of poverty in the country.

The National Statistics Office affirms that large families are prone to poverty with 57.3 percent
of families with seven children mired in poverty while only 23.8 percent of families with two
children are poor. Recent studies also show that large family size is a significant factor in
keeping families poor across generations.

Family planning will not lead to a demographic winter. UP economics professors in their paper
“Population and Poverty: The Real Score” declared that the threat of a so-called demographic
winter in the Philippines is “greatly exaggerated, and using it as an argument against a sensible
population policy is a plain and simple scare tactic.”

The National Statistical Coordinating Board projected that a replacement fertility of 2.1 children
per couple could be reached only by 2040. Moreover, despite a reduced population growth rate,
the effects of population momentum would continue for another 60 years by which time our total
population would be 240 million.

Humanae Vitae is not an infallible doctrine. In 1963, Pope John XXIII created the Papal
Commission on Birth Control to study questions on population and family planning. The
Commission included ranking prelates and theologians.

Voting 69 to 10, it strongly recommended that the Church change its teaching on contraception
as it concluded that “the regulation of conception appears necessary for many couples who wish
to achieve a responsible, open and reasonable parenthood in today’s circumstances.”

However, it was the minority report that Pope Paul VI eventually supported and which became
the basis of Humanae Vitae.

Even 40 years ago when the encyclical was issued, theologians did not generally think that it was
infallible. Monsignor Fernando Lambruschini, spokesperson of the Vatican at the time of its
release, said “attentive reading of the encyclical Humanae Vitae does not suggest the theological
note of infallibility… It is not infallible.”

Five days after the issuance of the encyclical, a statement against it was signed by 87 Catholic
theologians. It asserted that “Catholics may dissent from … noninfallible Church doctrine” and
that “Catholic spouses could responsibly decide in some circumstances to use artificial
contraception.”

(Rep. Edcel C. Lagman of Albay is the principal author of the proposed Reproductive Health
and Population Development Act of 2008.)

Reproductive Health Bill: Fact Sheet and Explanatory Note

Published by Atty. Fred September 16th, 2008 in Family and Property Law and Obiter/News. 23 Comments
255Share
(Note: This is the Fact Sheet from the Committee on Health on House Bill No. 5043 [full text],
in substitution to HB Nos. 17, 812, 2753 & 3970. Introduced by Reps. Edcel C. Lagman,
Janette L. Garin, Narciso D.Santiago III, Mark Llandro Mendoza, Ana Theresia Hontiveros-
Baraquel, Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona. The full text of the explanatory note of Rep. Edcel
Lagman’s House Bill No. 17, one of the substituted bills, is also reproduced below.)

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND POPULATION DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2008

OBJECTIVE/S:

• To uphold and promote respect for life, informed choice, birth spacing and responsible
parenthood in conformity with internationally recognized human rights standards.
• To guarantee universal access to medically-safe, legal and quality reproductive health
care services and relevant information even as it prioritizes the needs of women and
children.

KEY PROVISIONS:

• Mandates the Population Commission, to be an attached agency of the Department of

Health, to be the central planning, coordinating, implementing and monitoring body for
effective implementation of this Act.
• Provides for the creation of an enabling environment for women and couples to make an
informed choice regarding the family planning method that is best suited to their needs
and personal convictions.
• Provides for a maternal death review in LGUs, national and local government hospitals
and other public health units to decrease the incidence of maternal deaths.
• Ensures the availability of hospital-based family planning methods such as tubal ligation,
vasectomy and intrauterine device insertion in all national and local government
hospitals, except in specialty hospitals.
• Considers hormonal contraceptives, intrauterine devices, injectables and other allied
reproductive health products and supplies under the category of essential medicines and
supplies to form part of the National Drug Formulary and to be included in the regular
purchase of essential medicines and supplies of all national and local hospitals and other
government health units.
• Provides for a Mobile Health Care Service in every Congressional District to deliver
health care goods and services.
• Provides Mandatory Age-appropriate Reproductive Health Education starting from Grade
5 to Fourth Year High School to develop the youth into responsible adults.
• Mandates the inclusion of the topics on breastfeeding and infant nutrition as essential part
of the information given by the City or Municipal Office of the Family Planning to all
applicants for marriage license.
• Mandates no less than 10% increase in the honoraria of community-based volunteer
workers, such as the barangay health workers, upon successful completion of training on
the delivery of reproductive health care services.
 • Penalizes the violator of this Act from one month to six months imprisonment or a fine
ranging from ten thousand to fifty thousand pesos or both such fine and imprisonment at
the discretion of the Court.

——————————-

Republic of the Philippines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 17

Introduced by HONORABLE EDCEL C. LAGMAN

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The present population of the country of 88.7 million has galloped from 60.7 million 17 years
ago. This makes the Philippines the 12th most populous nation in the world today.The Filipino
women’s fertility rate of 3.05% is at the upper bracket of 206 countries. With four babies born
every minute, the population is expected to balloon to an alarming 160 million in 2038.

It is worth noting, however, that available studies, data and statistics show that the Filipinos are
responsive to having smaller-sized families through free choice of family planning methods:

a. The desired fertility rate of Filipino women is 2.5 children per woman. However, the actual
total fertility rate is 3.5 or a difference of one child because of the lack of information and
absence of access to family planning. The current unmet need for contraceptives for example is
23.15% for poor women and 13.6% for women who are not poor (2003 National Demographic
and Health Survey)

b. 61% of currently married women do not want additional children (2003 National
Demographic and Health Survey)

c. 50.6% of the youth want to have only two children (2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality
Survey)

d. 97% of all Filipinos believe it is important to have the ability to control one’s fertility or to
plan one’s family. It is significant to note that 87% of the total respondents are Roman Catholic
(February 2004 Pulse Asia Survey)

e. Nearly nine in ten Filipinos or 86% say that candidates for elective positions who advocate a
program for women’s health should be supported while only 2% say they should be rejected and
12% are undecided on the matter;
f. 82% say that candidates in favor of couples’ free choice of family planning methods should be
supported while only 3% think otherwise and 15% are undecided;

g. 82% of Filipinos consider candidates supporting a law or measure on population issues worthy
of their voltes while only 3% say such candidates should not be backed at the polls and 15% are
undecided;

h. 83% of Filipinos say they are in favor of candidates who support the allocation of goverment
funds for family planning while only 2% say they are not and 15% are undecided; and

i. A mere 8% of Filipinos believe that a candidate’s championing of family planning issues will
spell that candidate’s defeat at the polls.

j. In July 1991, the Social Weather Stations conducted a survey that revealed that 97% of
Filipinos want to have the ability to control their fertility and plan their families.

Notwithstanding these findings that favor smaller-sized families, this bill is not a population
control measure with the sole objective of limiting population growth. It provides for population
development that aims to:

(a) help couples/parents achieve their desired fertility size in the context of responsible
parenthood;

(b) improve reproductive health of individuals and contribute to decreased maternal mortality
rate, infant mortality and early child mortality;

(c) reduce incidence of teenage pregnancy and other reproductive health problems; and

(d) contribute to policies that will assist government to achieve a favorable balance between
population and distribution, economic activities and the environment.

This measure is not coercive. It gives couples the freedom to decide whether or not to plan their
families or space or limit their children. Those who decide to plan their families also have the
freedom to choose what method of contraception is best suited for them. The so called “two child
policy” is voluntary, not compulsory; suggestive, not coercive; and absolutely not punitive. It is
not even a policy. It is a suggested ideal or norm.

Accordingly, this bill seeks to provide the enabling environment for couples and individuals to
enjoy the basic right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children
and to have the information, education, and access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable
methods of family planning of their choice.

This proposed law aims to uphold and promote the four pillars of population and development
enunciated by no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself in her statement of
support for the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) namely: (1)
responsible parenthood, (2) informed choice, (3) birth spacing, and (4) respect for life.
It should be clarified, however, that this bill does not only protect the life of the unborn from the
moment of implantation but that of the mother as well. Hence, the bill seeks to promote the
reproductive health of women basically through massive and sustained information campaign on
reproductive health rights, care, services and facilities coupled with universal access to all
methods of family planning ranging from the natural to the modern which are medically safe and
legally permissible. In the event they fail to prevent pregnancy and resort to abortion, they shall
be provided with appropriate health and medical care. Despite the provision for humane and
compassionate management of post abortion complications, this bill continues to proscribe and
penalize abortion which is a crime under the Revised Penal Code.

To contribute to the empowerment and responsible behavior of the youth, this proposed
legislation provides for age-appropriate reproductive health and sexuality education that may be
initiated by parents at house, and shall be sustained and complemented by formal education in
school.

An effective reproductive health education does not only instill consciousness of freedom of
choice but responsible exercise of one’s rights. According to the United Nations Population
Fund: “It has been, repeatedly shown that reproductive health education leads to responsible
behavior, higher levels of abstinence, later initiation of sexuality, higher use of contraception,
and fewer sexual partners, These good effeds are even greater when parents can talk honestly
with their children about sexual and reproductive matters.”

To guarantee the right of all persons to a full range of information on family planning methods,
services and facilities and to ensure their access to an equally full range of medically safe and
effective family planning methods at an appropriate time and by competent and adequately
trained persons,the bill mandates the Commission on Population (POPCOM) to be the central
planning, coordinating, implementing and monitoring body for the comprehensive and integrated
policy on reproductive health and population development. Section 5 of the bill specifies the
functions of POPCOM as the lead agency in the implementation of the “Reproductive Health,
Responsible Parenthood and Population Development Act of 2007″.

This proposed Act doses not only seek to protect and promote reproductive health and rights and
to empower couples, individuals, more particularly women, and the youth, but it also aims to
improve the quality of life of the people in general. Studies show that rapid population growth
exacerbates poverty while poverty spawns rapid population growth. Consider the following:

• The Family Income and Exfenditures Surveys by the National Statistics Office (NSO)
from 1985-2000 disclose that 57.3% of families having many children are poor but only
15.7% of families having two children are poor.
• Large family size is associated with negative determinant of school participation and poor
health and survival rates among children. (Orbeta, Population and the Fight Against
Poverty, 2003)
• The prevalence of child labor rises, and school attendance falls, with the number of
children in the family (Raymundo, 2004). Moreover,the odds of a child becoming
underweight and stunted are greater if he/she belongs to a household with 5 or more
 members (FNRI 1998). This partly explains why poverty tends to be transmitted and
sustained from one generation to the next.
• According to the UN Population Fund 2002 Report, “lower birth rates and slower
population growth over the last three decades have contributed faster economic progress
in a number of developing countries.”
• Moreover,the same Report disclosed that fertility declines accounted for 1/5th of the
economic growth in East Asia between 1960 and 1995. Additionally, it showed that
countries that invest in health, including reproductive health and family planning, and in
education and women’s development register slower population growth and faster
economic growth.

A consistent and coherent national population policy along with sound monetary and fiscal
policies and good governance could propel our people toward sustainable human development.

Accordingly, approval of this measure is earnestly sought.

: Full text of House Bill No. 5043 (Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of
2008; poll also here)

Full text of House Bill No. 5043 (Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008

HOUSE BILL NO. 5043

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A NATIONAL POLICY ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH,

RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD AND POPULATION DEVELOPMENT, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Reproductive Health and
Population Development Act of 2008“.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – The State upholds and promotes responsible parenthood,
informed choice, birth spacing and respect for life in conformity with internationally recognized
human rights standards.
The State shall uphold the right of the people, particularly women and their organizations, to
effective and reasonable participation in the formulation and implementation of the declared
policy.

This policy is anchored on the rationale that sustainable human development is better assured
with a manageable population of healthy, educated and productive citizens.

The State likewise guarantees universal access to medically-safe, legal, affordable and quality
reproductive health care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant information thereon
even as it prioritizes the needs of women and children,among other underprivileged sectors.

SEC. 3. Guiding Principles. – This Act declares the following as basic guiding principles:

a. In the promotion of reproductive health, there should be no bias for either modern or natural
methods of family planning;

b. Reproductive health goes beyond a demographic target because it is principally about health
and rights;

c. Gender equality and women empowerment are central elements of reproductive health and
population development;

d. Since manpower is the principal asset of every country, effective reproductive health care
services must be given primacy to ensure the birth and care of healthy children and to promote
responsible parenting;

e. The limited resources of the country cannot be suffered to, be spread so thinly to service a
burgeoning multitude that makes the allocations grossly inadequate and effectively meaningless;

f. Freedom of informed choice, which is central to the exercise of any right, must be fully
guaranteed by the State like the right itself;

g. While the number and spacing of children are left to the sound judgment of parents and
couples based on their personal conviction and religious beliefs, such concerned parents and
couples, including unmarried individuals, should be afforded free and full access to relevant,
adequate and correct information on reproductive health and human sexuality and should be
guided by qualified State workers and professional private practitioners;

h. Reproductive health, including the promotion of breastfeeding, must be the joint concern of
the National Government and Local Government Units(LGUs);

i. Protection and promotion of gender equality, women empowerment and human rights,
including reproductive health rights, are imperative;
j. Development is a multi-faceted process that calls for the coordination and integration of
policies, plans, programs and projects that seek to uplift the quality of life of the people, more
particularly the poor, the needy and the marginalized;

k. Active participation by and thorough consultation with concerned non-government

organizations (NGOs), people’s organizations (POs) and communities are imperative to ensure
that basic policies, plans, programs and projects address the priority needs of stakeholders;

l. Respect for, protection and fulfillment of reproductive health rights seek to promote not only
the rights and welfare of adult individuals and couples but those of adolescents’ and children’s as
well; and

m. While nothing in this Act changes the law on abortion, as abortion remains a crime and is
punishable, the government shall ensure that women seeking care for post-abortion
complications shall be treated and counseled in a humane, non-judgmental and compassionate
manner.

SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. – For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall be defined as
follows:

a. Responsible Parenthood – refers to the will, ability and cornmitTrient of parents to respond to
the needs and aspirations of the family and children more particularly through family planning;

b. Family Planning – refers to a program which enables couple, and individuals to decide freely
and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and to have the information and means
to carry out their decisions, and to have informed choice and access to a full range of safe, legal
and effective family planning methods, techniques and devices.

c. Reproductive Health -refers to the state of physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and
to its funcitions and processes. This implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex
life, that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often
to do so, provided that these are not against the law. This further implies that women and men
are afforded equal status in matters related to sexual relations and reproduction.

d. Reproductive Health Rights – refers to the rights of individuals and couples do decide freely
and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children; to make other decisions
concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence; to have the information
and means to carry out their decisions; and to attain the highest standard of sexual and
reproductive health.

e. Gender Equality – refers to the absence of discrimination on the basis of a person’s sex, in
opportunities, allocation of resources and benefits, and access to services.
f. Gender Equity – refers to fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities
between women and men, and often requires. women-specific projects and programs to eliminate
existing inequalities, inequities, policies and practices unfavorable too women.

g. Reproductive Health Care – refers to the availability of and access to a full range of methods,
techniques, supplies and services that contribute to reproductive and sexual health and well-
being by preventing and solving reproductive health-related problems in order to achieve
enhancement of life and personal relations. The elements of reproductive health care include:

1. Maternal, infant and child health and nutrition;

2. Promotion of breastfeeding;

3. Family planning information end services;

4. Prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications;

5. Adolescent and youth health;

6. Prevention and management of reproductive tract infections (RTIs), HIV/AIDS and other
sexually transmittable infections (STIs);

7. Elimination of violence against women;

8. Education and counseling on sexuality and sexual and reproductive health;

9. Treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers and other gynecological conditions;

10. Male involvement and participation in reproductive health;,

11. Prevention and treatment of infertility and sexual dysfunction; and

12. Reproductive health education for the youth.

h. Reproductive Health Education – refers to the process of acquiring complete, accurate and
relevant information on all matters relating to the reproductive system, its functions and
processes and human sexuality; and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity,
interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy and gender roles. It also includes developing the
necessary skills do be able to distinguish between facts and myths on sex and sexuality; and
critically evaluate. and discuss the moral, religious, social and cultural dimensions of related
sensitive issues such as contraception and abortion.

i. Male involvement and participation – refers to the involvement, participation, commitment and
joint responsibility of men with women in all areas of sexual and reproductive health, as well as
reproductive health concerns specific to men.
j. Reproductive tract infection (RTI) – refers do sexually transmitted infections, sexually
transmitted diseases and other types of-infections affecting the reproductive system.

k. Basic Emergency Obstetric Care – refers to lifesaving services for maternal complication
being provided by a health facility or professional which must include the following six signal
functions: administration of parenteral antibiotics; administration of parrenteral oxyttocic drugs;
administration of parenteral anticonvulsants for pre-eclampsia and iampsia; manual removal of
placenta; and assisted vaginal delivery.

l. Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care – refers to basic emergency obstetric care plus two
other signal functions: performance of caesarean section and blood transfusion.

m. Maternal Death Review – refers to a qualitative and in-depth study of the causes of maternal
death with the primary purpose of preventing future deaths through changes or additions to
programs, plans and policies.

n. Skilled Attendant – refers to an accredited health professional such as a licensed midwife,

doctor or nurse who has adequate proficiency and the skills to manage normal (uncomplicated)
pregnancies, childbirth and the immediate postnatal period, and in the identification,
management and referral of complication in women and newborns.

o. Skilled Attendance – refers to childbirth managed by a skilled attendant under the enabling
conditions of a functional emergencyobstetric care and referral system.

p. Development – refers to a multi-dimensional process involving major changes in social

structures, popular attitudes, and national institutions as well as the acceleration of economic
growth, the reduction of inequality and the eradication of widespread poverty.

q. Sustainable Human Development – refers to the totality of the process of expending human
choices by enabling people to enjoy long, healthy and productive lives, affording them access to
resources needed for a decent standard of living and assuring continuity and acceleration of
development by achieving a balance between and among a manageable population, adequate
resources and a healthy environment.

r. Population Development – refers to a program that aims to: (1) help couples and parents
achieve their desired family size; (2) improve reproductive health of individuals by addressing
reproductive health problems; (3) contribute to decreased maternal and infant mortality rates and
early child mortality; (4) reduce incidence of teenage pregnancy; and (5) enable government to
achieve a balanced population distribution.

SEC. 5. The Commission on Population (POPC0NI). – Pursuant to the herein declared policy,
the Commission on Population (POPCOM) shall serve as the central planning, coordinating,
implementing and monitoring body for the comprehensive and integrated policy on reproductive
health and population development. In the implementation of this policy, POPCOM, which shall
be an attached agency of the Department of Health (DOH) shall have the following functions:
a. To create an enabling environment for women and couples to make an informed choice
regarding the family planning method that is best suited to their needs and personal convictions;

b. To integrate on a continuing basis the interrelated reproductive health and population

development agenda into a national policy, taking into account regional and local concerns;

c. To provide the mechanism to ensure active and full participation of the private sector and the
citizenry through their organizations in the planning and implementation of reproductive health
care and population development programs and projects;

d. To ensure people’s access to medically safe, legal, quality and affordable reproductive health
goods and services;

e. To facilitate the involvement and participation of non-government organizations and the

private sector in reproductive health care service delivery and in the production, distribution and
delivery of quality reproductive: health and family planning supplies and commodities to make
them accessible and affordable to ordinary citizens;

f. To fully implement the Reproductive Health Care Program with the following components:

(1) Reproductive health education including but not limited to counseling on the full range of
legal and medically-safe family planning methods including surgical methods;

(2) Maternal, pen-natal and post-natal education, care and services;

(3) Promotion of breastfeeding;

(4) Promotion of male involvement, participation and responsibility in reproductive health as

well as other reproductive health concerns of men;

(5) Prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications; and

(6) Provision of information and services addressing the reproductive health needs of the poor,
senior citizens, women in prostitution, differently-abled persons, and women and children in war
AND crisis situations.

g. To ensure that reproductive health services are delivered with a full range of supplies,
facilities and equipment and that service providers are adequately trained for reproductive health
care;

h. To endeavor to furnish local Family Planning Offices with appropriate information and
resources to keep the latter updated on current studies and research relating to family planning,
responsible parenthood, breastfeeding and infant nutrition;
i. To direct all public hospitals to make available to indigent mothers who deliver their children
in these government hospitals, upon the mothers request, the procedure of ligation without cost
to her;

j. To recommend the enactment of legislation and adoption of executive measures that will
strengthen and enhance the national policy on reproductive health and population development;

k. To ensure a massive and sustained information drive on responsible parenthood and on all
methods and techniques to prevent unwanted, unplanned and mistimed pregnancies, it shall
release information bulletins on the same for nationwide circulation to all government
departments, agencies and instrumentalities, non-government organizations and the private
sector, schools, public and private libraries, tri-media outlets, workplaces, hospitals and
concerned health institutions;

l. To strengthen the capacities of health regulatory agencies to ensure safe, high-quality,

accessible, and affordable reproductive health services and commodities with the concurrent
strengthening and enforcement of regulatory mandates and mechanisms;

m. To take active steps to expand the coverage of the National Health Insurance Program
(NHIP), especially among poor and marginalized women, to include the full range of
reproductive health services and supplies as health insurance benefits; and

n. To perform such other functions necessary to attain the purposes of this Act.

The membership of the Board of Commissioners of POPCOM shall consist of the heads of the
following AGENCIES:

1. National Economic DevelopmentAuthority (VEDA)

2. Department of Health (DOH)
3. Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
4. Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
5. Department of Agriculture (DA)
6. Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
7. Department of Education (DepEd)
8. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
9. Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
10. University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI)
11. Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAFI)
12. National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPQ
13. National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW)
14. National Youth Commission (NYC)

In addition to the aforementioned, members, there shall be three private sector representatives to
the Board of Commissioners of POPCOM who shall come from NGOs. There shall be one (1)
representative each from women, youth and health sectors who have a proven track record of
involvement in the promotion of reproductive health. These representatives shall be nominated in
a process determined by the above-mentioned sectors, and to be appointed by the President for a
term of three (3)years.

SEC. 6. Midwives for Skilled Attendance. -Every city and municipality shall endeavor to
employ adequate number of midwives or other skilled attendants to achieve a minimum ratio of
one (1)for every one hundred fifty (150) deliveries per year, to be based on the average annual
number of actual deliveries or live births for the past two years.

SEC. 7. Emergency Obstetric Care. – Each province. and city shall endeavor to ensure the
establishment and operation of hospitals with adequate and qualified personnel that provide
emergency obstetric care. For every 500,000 population, there shall be at least one (1) hospital
for comprehensive emergency obstetric care and four (4) hospitals for basic emergency obstetric
care.

SEC. 8. Maternal Death Review. – All LGUs, national and local government hospitals, and
other public health units shall conduct maternal death review in accordance with the guidelines
to be issued by the DOH in consultation with the POPCOM.

SEC. 9. Hospital-Based Family Planning. -Tubal ligation, vasectomy, intrauterine device

insertion and other family planning methods requiring hospital services shall be available in all
national and local government hospitals, except: in specialty hospitals which may render such
services on an optional basis. For indigent patients, such services shall be fully covered by
PhilHealth insurance and/or government financial assistance.

SEC. 10. Contraceptives as Essential Medicines. – Hormonal contraceptives, intrauterine

devices, injectables and other allied reproductive health products and supplies shall be
considered under the category of essential medicines and supplies which shall form part of the
National Drug Formulary and the same shall be included in the regular purchase of essential
medicines and supplies of all national and lord hospitals and other government health units.

SEC. 11. Mobile Health Care Service. -Each Congressional District shall be provided with a
van to be known as the Mobile Health Care Service (MHOS) to deliver health care goods and
services to its constituents, more particularly to the poor and needy, as well as disseminate
knowledge and information on reproductive health: Provided, That reproductive health education
shall be conducted by competent and adequately trained persons preferably reproductive health
care providers: Provided, further, That the full range of family planning methods, both natural
and modern, shall be promoted.

The acquisition, operation and maintenance of the MRCS shall be funded from the Priority
Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of each Congressional District.

The MHCS shall be adequately equipped with a wide range of reproductive health care materials
and information dissemination devices and equipment, the latter including but not limited to, a
television set for audio-visual presentation.
SEC. 12. Mandatory Age-Appropriate Reproductive Health Education. – Recognizing the
importance of reproductive health rights in empowering the youth and developing them into
responsible adults, Reproductive Health Education in an age-appropriate manner shall be taught
by adequately trained teachers starting from Grade 5 up to Fourth Year High School. In order to
assure the prior training of teachers on reproductive health, the implementation of Reproductive
Health Education shall commence at the start of the school year one year following the
effectivity of this Act. The POPCOM, in coordination with the Department of Education, shall
formulate the Reproductive Health Education curriculum, which shall be common to both public
and private schools and shall include related population and development concepts in addition to
the following subjects and standards:

a. Reproductive health and sexual rights;

b. Reproductive health care and services;

c. Attitudes, beliefs and values on sexual development, sexual behavior and sexual health;

d. Proscription and hazards of abortion and management of post-abortion complications;

e. Responsible parenthood.

f. Use and application of natural and modern family planning methods to promote reproductive
health, achieve desired family size and prevent unwanted, unplanned and mistimed pregnancies;

g. Abstinence before marriage;

h. Prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other, STIs/STDs, prostate cancer, breast cancer,
cervical cancer and other gynecological disorders;

i. Responsible sexuality; and

j. Maternal, peri-natal and post-natal education, care and services.

In support of the natural, and primary right of parents in the rearing of the youth, the POPCOM
shall provide concerned parents with adequate and relevant scientific materials on the age-
appropriate topics and manner of teaching reproductive health education to their children.

In the elementary level, reproductive health education shall focus, among others, on values
formation.

Non-formal education programs shall likewise include the abovementioned reproductive Health
Education.

SEC. 13. Additional Duty of Family Planning 0ffice. – Each local Family Planning Office
shall furnish for free instructions and information on family planning, responsible parenthood,
breastfeeding and infant nutrition to all applicants for marriage license.
SEC. 14. Certificate of Compliance. – No marriage license shall be issued by the Local Civil
Registrar unless the applicants present a Certificate of Compliance issued for free by the local
Family Planning Office certifying that they had duly received adequate instructions and
information on family planning, responsible parenthood, breastfeeding and infant nutrition.

SEC. 15. Capability Building of Community-Based Volunteer Workers. – Community-based

volunteer workers, like but not limited to, Barangay Health Workers, shall undergo additional
and updated training on the delivery of reproductive health care services and shall receive not
less than 10% increase in honoraria upon successful completion of training. The increase in
honoraria shall be funded from the Gender and Development (GAD) budget of the National
Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Health (DOH) and the
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

SEC. 16. Ideal Family Size. – The State shall assist couples, parents and individuals to achieve
their desired family size within the context of responsible parenthood for sustainable
development and encourage them to have two children as the ideal family size. Attaining the
ideal family size is neither mandatory nor compulsory. No punitive action shall be imposed on
parents having more than two children.

SEC. 17. Employers’ Responsibilities. – Employers shall respect the reproductive health rights
of all their workers. Women shall not be discriminated against in the matter of hiring,
regularization of employment status or selection for retrenchment.

All Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) shall provide for the free delivery by the
employer of reasonable quantity of reproductive health care services, supplies and devices to all
workers, more particularly women workers. In establishments or enterprises where there are no
CBAs or where the employees are unorganized, the employer shall have the same obligation.

SEC. 18. Support of Private and Non-government Health Care Service Providers. –
Pursuant to Section 5(b) hereof, private reproductive health care service providers, including but
not limited to gynecologists and obstetricians, are encouraged to join their colleagues in non-
government organizations in rendering such services free of charge or at reduced professional fee
rates to indigent and low income patients.

SEC. 19. Multi-Media Campaign. – POPCOM shall initiate and sustain an intensified
nationwide multi-media campaign to raise the level of public awareness on the urgent need to
protect and promote reproductive health and rights.

SEC. 20. Reporting Requirements. – Before the end of April of each year,the DOH shall
submit an annual report to the President of the Philippines, the President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives on a definitive and comprehensive assessment of the
implementation of this Act and shall make the necessary recommendations for executive and
legislative action. The report shall be posted in the website of DOH and printed copies shall be
made available to all stakeholders.

SEC. 21. Prohibited Acts. – The following acts are prohibited:

a) Any health care service provider, whether public or private, who shall:

1. Knowingly withhold information or impede the dissemination thereof, and/or intentionally

provide incorrect information regarding programs and services on reproductive health including
the right to informed choice and access to a full range of legal, medically-safe and effective
family planning methods;

2. Refuse to perform voluntary ligation and vasectomy and other legal and medically-safe
reproductive health care services on any person of legal age on the ground of lack of spousal
consent or authorization.

3. Refuse to provide reproductive health care services to an abused minor, whose abused
condition is certified by the proper official or personnel of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) or to duly DSWD-certified abused pregnant minor on whose case no
parental consent is necessary.

4. Fail to provide, either deliberately or through gross or inexcusable negligence, reproductive

health care services as mandated under this Act, the Local Government Code of 1991, the Labor
Code, and Presidential Decree 79, as amended; and

5. Refuse to extend reproductive health care services and information on account of the patient’s
civil status, gender or sexual orientation, age, religion, personal circumstances, and nature of
work; Provided, That all conscientious objections of health care service providers based on
religious grounds shall be respected: Provided, further, That the conscientious objector shall
immediately refer the person seeking such care and services to another health care service
provider within the same facility or one which is conveniently accessible: Provided, finally, That
the patient is not in an emergency or serious case as defined in RA 8344 penalizing the refusal of
hospitals and medical clinics to administer appropriate initial medical treatment and support in
emergency and serious cases.

b) Any public official who prohibits or restricts personally or through a subordinate the delivery
of legal and medically-safe reproductive health care services, including family planning;

c) Any employer who shall fail to comply with his obligation under Section 17 of this Act or an
employer who requires a female applicant or employee, as a condition for employment or
continued employment, to involuntarily undergo sterilization, tubal ligation or any other form of
contraceptive method;

d) Any person who shall falsify a certificate of compliance as required in Section 14 of this Act;
and

e) Any person who maliciously engages in disinformation about the intent or provisions of this
Act.

SEC. 22. Penalties. – The proper city or municipal court shall exercise jurisdiction over
violations of this Act and the accused who is found guilty shall be sentenced to an imprisonment
ranging from one (1) month to six (6) months or a fine ranging from Ten Thousand Pesos
(P10,000.00) to Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) or both such fine and imprisonment at the
discretion of the court. If the offender is a juridical person, the penalty shall be imposed upon the
president, treasurer, secretary or any responsible officer. An offender who is an alien shall, after
service of sentence, be deported immediately without further proceedings by the Bureau of
Immigration. An offender who is a public officer or employee shall suffer the accessory penalty
of dismissal from the government service.

Violators of this Act shall be civilly liable to the offended party in such amount at the discretion
of the proper court.

SEC. 23. Appropriations. – The amounts appropriated in the current annual General
Appropriations Act for reproductive health and family planning under the DOH and POPCOM
together with ten percent (10%) of the Gender and Development (GAD) budgets of all
government departments, agencies, bureaus, offices and instrumentalities funded in the annual
General Appropriations Act in accordance with Republic Act No. 7192 (Women in Development
and Nation-building Act) and Executive Order No. 273 (Philippine Plan for Gender Responsive
Development 1995-2025) shall be allocated and utilized for the implementation of this Act. Such
additional sums as may be necessary for the effective implementation of this Act shall be
Included in the subsequent years’ General Appropriations Acts.

SEC. 24. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of
this Act, the Department of Health shall promulgate, after thorough consultation with the
Commission on Population (POPCOM), the National Economic Development Authority
(NEDA), concerned non-government organizations (NGOs) and known reproductive health
advocates, the requisite implementing rules and regulations.

SEC. 25. Separability Clause. – If any part, section or provision of this Act is held invalid or
unconstitutional, other provisions not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 26. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, Orders, issuances, rules and regulations
contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended or
modified accordingly.

SEC. 27. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least
two (2) newspapers of national circulation.

11 Responses to “Full text of House Bill No. 5043 (Reproductive Health

and Population Development Act of 2008)”

In the course of a book-length interview with a German journalist named Peter

Seewald, the Pope declared that condoms alone cannot stop the AIDS epidemic. But
he also said, "there may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps
when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the
direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility..." This statement
was itself clarified by a Vatican spokesman named Father Federico Lombardi, who
said that the Pope's words apply not just to gay sex workers but to anyone having
sex -- male, female or transsexual. Using a condom to prevent the transmission of
AIDS, said Father Lombardi, is "a first step of taking responsibility, of avoiding
passing a grave risk onto another."

In response, Catholic conservatives see only a mess of confusion. John Haas,

president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, says he can't
accept Lombardi's interpretation of the pope's words. Germain Grisez, a prominent
moral theologian who advises bishops, says it is "pernicious" to promote the use of
condoms as a means of checking the spread of AIDS. And Jean Giroux, executive
director of Human Life International America, which promotes Catholic teaching on
contraception and abortion, says he needs more clarification from the Vatican.

But if Mr. Giroux and his fellow conservatives would simply review the history of
Catholic teaching on double effect as well as on tolerance of lesser evils, they would
find ample support for the pope's statement.