Key government offices directed to fully implement RH law

CEBU, Philippines - The joint effort of the National Economic and Development Authority  and Department of Health to push further the implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act (RPRH) just got a boost with the recent signing of Executive Order No. 12 or the "Zero Unmet Need for Family Planning."

This order aims to intensify and accelerate the implementation of critical actions necessary to attain and sustain "zero unmet need for modern family planning" for all poor households by 2018, and for all Filipinos thereafter.

The EO defines unmet need as "couples and women who are fecund and sexually active and want to limit or space their children but are not using any modern method of contraception."

Earlier, the Supreme Court had issued a Temporary Restraining Order in 2015 banning Implanon and Implanon NXT, a form of subdermal implant that inhibits ovulation for up to three years.

"The TRO affects 7.3 million Filipino women, most of them belong to the lowest wealth quintile with high unmet need for Family Planning," said Population Commission (PopCom) Executive Director Dr. Juan Antonio A. Perez III in a statement.

The said EO also directed the DOH, PopCom and Department of Interior and Local Government to accelerate mechanisms and strategies to attain the said purpose through the strict implementation of the RPRH Law.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development, National Youth Commission, NEDA, Philippine Commission on Women, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation were also asked to support the three key government agencies for the successful implementation of the said law.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has been vocal about the need for a family planning program in the country and even stressed the full implementation of the RPRH Law in his first State of the Nation Address last year.

Perez said that the implementation of the RPRH Law must be "put into full force so that couples, especially the poor, will have freedom of informed choice in the number and spacing of children they can adequately care and provide for, eventually making them more productive members of the labor force."

The said EO strives to redeem our long fought RPRH Law victory and push forth our desire to achieve happy, healthy and empowered Filipino families," Perez added.  —  (FREEMAN)