SC: RH Law can be implemented

MANILA, Philippines - The government can go ahead and implement the Reproductive Health (RH) Law, as there is no existing Supreme Court order stopping it or any of its provisions.

SC spokesman Theodore Te made this clear yesterday amid reports that the high court had issued temporary restraining orders (TRO) that impair the law’s full implementation.

“I’ve already clarified many times that there is no TRO against the RH Law,” Te stressed in a text message.

President Duterte signed last Monday Executive Order No. 12, mandating aggressive government action on providing universal access to RH programs.

Te explained that the Aug. 24, 2016 decision of the high court that sustained its earlier TRO referred only to the Department of Health (DOH)’s acquisition and distribution of contraceptive products Implanon and Implanon NXT to the public, not to the RH Law.

The ruling rejected the bid of the DOH to proceed with the procurement and distribution of controversial contraceptive implants. 

The SC also struck down the certifications and re-certifications issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on 77 contraceptive drugs and devices, including Implanon and Implanon NXT, for violation of constitutional requirement of due process.

The high court found that the agency had certified and administered 77 contraceptive drugs and devices “without the observance of the basic tenets of due process, without notice and without public hearing, despite the constant opposition of petitioners.”

The SC specifically ordered the FDA “to observe the basic requirements of due process by conducting a hearing and allowing the petitioners to be heard on the re-certified, procured and administered contraceptive drugs and devices, including Implanon and Implanon NXT, and to determine whether they are abortifacients or non-abortifacients.” With Evelyn Macairan