Rody: Natural family planning doesn’t work

MANILA, Philippines - Natural family planning methods will not work as the urge to have sex cannot be stopped, President Duterte said.

In a speech during the anniversary of the ruling PDP-Laban party on Sunday, Duterte said natural birth control methods go against the “grain of biology.”

“Sabi ko ’yung family planning, father, hindi talaga uubra ’yan. Sabihin niyong natural menstrual cycle, it cannot be that way kasi ang libog po instant ’yan (I said natural family planning does not really work. You talk about the natural menstrual cycle, it cannot be that way because the urge to have sex is instant),” he said.

Duterte said couples could not rely on the calendar method, wherein the length of the menstrual cycle is recorded to determine if a woman is fertile.

“Hindi naman pwedeng kalendaryo. Ano ito, bingo? Ma-bingo tayo. Hindi mo mapigilan ’yan. (We cannot rely on the calendar. Are we playing bingo? You can’t stop it),” he said.

The Catholic Church has opposed artificial birth control methods.

Duterte claimed that religion is not attuned to current realities.

“Kita mo si pope, open na siya mag-asawa na ang pari. Diyan ka makakita ng limang pamilya sa simbahan. Puro asawa ng pari ’yan. Kaya sabi ni pope wala na siyang tutol na mag-asawa ang mga pari, dapat lang. (The pope is now open to allowing priests to marry. You can see five families in a church. All of them are wives of priests. So the pope said he is no longer opposed to married priests. That’s the way it should be),” the President said.

Duterte also joked that his salary allows him to marry another woman. 

“If you say ‘President, what are you doing,’ I work everyday. I read and sign documents. My salary is P200,000. I can marry once again,” Duterte said.

The President is legally separated from his wife Elizabeth Zimmerman. He has a daughter with his partner Honeylet Avanceña.

“Iyan ang racket ko. Pag-ibig. (That’s my racket. Love),” he joked.

Demand for implants high

The Commission on Population (PopCom) noted yesterday the high demand for contraceptive implants despite the Supreme Court order stopping the Department of Health from including hormonal contraceptive Implanon and Implanon NXT in its family planning programs.

PopCom executive director Juan Antonio Perez III said they received reports from PopCom regional offices and civil society organizations that “there is still a high demand for implants.” 

Perez said basic family planning services are not provided to women in areas such as Tarlac and Koronadal City. In South Cotabato, women shifted to more temporary methods like DMPA (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate) or DepoProvera injectables, he said.