Duterte economic agenda to include family planning

MANILA, Philippines - Incoming president Rodrigo Duterte has included family planning and population control in his economic agenda.

“We are determined to speed up the implementation of the Reproductive Health Law, which is now the ninth component of the incoming administration’s economic agenda,” economic planning secretary-designate Ernesto Pernia said in a television interview.

He said family planning and population control is a poverty reduction measure.

He said based on surveys, young couples want access to family planning products and programs.

“The goal of the Duterte administration’s economic roadmap is inclusive growth, which we are now calling poverty and inequality-reducing growth,” Pernia said.

The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law (Republic Act No. 10354) was enacted in 2012. It was not implemented for two years because of a restraining order from the Supreme Court.

In the latter part of 2014, the high court upheld its constitutionality after striking down several key provisions.

Recently, health officials and reproductive health advocates, including Sen. Pia Cayetano, accused Sen. Vicente Sotto III of reducing the RH budget by P1 billion.

Cayetano even faulted Sen. Loren Legarda, who chairs the Senate finance committee, of agreeing to the reduction without informing her, which she had requested her to do in case there were proposals that would affect the RH Law.

As unveiled by incoming finance secretary Carlos Dominguez last May 12, the Duterte administration’s economic agenda consists of the following:

• Continue and maintain the current macroeconomic policies of the Aquino government;

• Index income tax rates to inflation;

• Accelerate infrastructure spending by addressing bottlenecks in the public-private partnership program;

• Ensure attractiveness of the Philippines to foreign direct investments by addressing the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution;

• Pursue genuine agriculture and rural development by providing support services to farmers;

• Address bottlenecks in land administration;

• Expand the conditional cash transfer program;

• Strengthen basic education and provide scholarships for college students.

Dominguez said indexing tax rates to inflation would mean lower tax for taxpayers.

On Saturday, Duterte said he was not sure if he would reduce or increase taxes.