No to defunding implants

This is a sad Christmas season for our  family, as our brother, Dr. Hermaneli Torrevillas, passed away last Friday in Australia.  He was the oldest of us nine children of the late Gregorio and Corazon Torrevillas. He obtained his BS in Biology at Silliman University, and his medical degree from the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Medical Center in 1961, and practiced medicine in the Cordilleras and Tabuk, Kalinga-Apayao until he moved to Blacktown, NSW, Australia. He wrote a couple of books on mystical connections.

He is survived by his children Dwight, Luke, Sheli C. Bell and Jessel.

His  cinema specialist son Luke writes in a letter to friends, that his dad “was known to many simply as  ‘Doc’ and will be remembered for his dedication and service to the community both in the Philippines and Australia. He gave so much of himself to the service of others and asked little in return.“

A service and celebration of life will be held tomorrow, Dec. 18, at the Minchinbury North Chapel, Pinegrove Memorial Park.

We are comforted by the thought that Nell is now in the presence of our Creator.

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Senate President Vicente Sotto III strikes a blow on women’s rights – again! – by recommending the removal of P195 million from next year’s budget of the Department of Health allocated for the purchase of progestin subdermal implants (PSI).

The senator made his recommendation based on a testimony by a pro-life American obstetrician/gynecologist  who is the executive director of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The foreigner researcher, Donna Harrison, said the US Food and Drug Authority has an “outdated” ruling on the PSI as non-abortifacient, or non-abortion-inducing. The Senate president is a fiery advocate of the Pro- life movement.

Harrison’s testimony is contrary to the declarations of the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines (FDA), which have vouched for the safety and non-abortifacient nature of the implants.

Undersecretary Juan Antonio Perez III, MD, MPH, said in a press statement that deleting DOH’s budget for  implants will “adversely affect the momentum of the implementation of the National Program on Population and Family Planning (NPPFP) during the second half of 2020, when current supplies are expected to be depleted.

“The action of the Senate President is regrettable since there is no scientific basis for its removal,” said the POPCOM executive director. “The FDA has not declared it as contrary to the provisions of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law.”

“Likewise, there is no new evidence that PSIs are abortifacients,” Perez said.

The subdermal implant is a contraceptive that has been approved by the FDA as safe, legal, and non-abortifacient. Woman’s rights advocate Elizabeth Angsioco writes that the implant became popular with Filipino women “because it is easy to use and long-acting. It only takes about five minutes to insert (it on a woman’s arm), yet it is effective. After insertion, women can go back to their usual routine and there is no restriction in terms of what they can do.”

Moreover, it is reversible, writes Angsiaco. “Meaning, if at any time within the three years that it is effective the woman with the implant decides that she wants to get pregnant, the contraceptive can easily be removed.“

International medical and health specialists say that the subdermal implant is among the most recently developed contraceptives and was approved in the United Sates in 1990. It is approved as a contraceptive by health agencies  in more than 60 countries, including the Philippines’ FDA.

The World Health Organization has categorized contraceptives like subdermal implant as separate from those that may be used for abortion.

According to former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral, contraceptives do not induce abortion. They prevent, not terminate pregnancy. Contraceptives act BEFORE pregnancy occurs and thus, are not abortifacient. She has said time and again, that contraceptives cannot abort pregnancy because there is nothing to abort.

Removing the budget for implants means that poor women will not have access to this highly effective and long-acting family planning method that is provided free at government health agencies.  Women of means can afford to pay for an implant at a cost of P5,000 for three years of protection from unwanted pregnancies.

Based on POPCOM’s record of use in 2018, the NPPFP requires about 150,000 to 200,000 implants every six months. Perez said that the DOH currently has about 190,000 in stock and will run out by the middle of 2020.

Perez also pointed out that the budget cancellation made by Senator Sotto is based on the same arguments that were already rejected by the FDA in November 2017.

“Both  POPCOM and the DOH  have already had the opportunity to defend our 2020 budgets to implement the RPRH Law. Our assessment is that it is still underfunded, to the tune of at least P1.5 billion.”

Perez added that President Duterte has approved the intensified implementation of the NPPFP. “An action to reduce the current underfunding will be contrary to the Chief Executive’s stated priorities on population matters.”

He said that since young women are among the highest users of the said implants, efforts to reduce repeat teen pregnancies across the Philippines will definitely be hampered.

Senator Ana Theresia “Risa’ Hontiveros, a staunch defender of the RPRH Law, had earlier insisted that it might be premature to remove any modern contraceptive method, vis-à-vis the FDA ruling on the PSIs.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque has already clarified that PSIs do not induce abortion, and rectified the notion that they cause abortion among users by citing the FDA Advisory No. 2017-302 which declared that the implants are not abortifacients.

Hopefully the Senate president’s  recommendation will get a thumbs down  from his colleagues at a bicameral conference committee and the budget can still restore the P195 million he had deleted.

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You should not miss viewing this Wonderland – the thousands of Christmas lights display at the house of Ben De Leon and his family from 6 in the evening till the break of dawn. This year’s display started on Dec. 1 and will end on Jan. 5, the Feast of the Three Kings 2020.

The lights display was conceived by Ben’s  late wife Venus some 15 years ago,  and her family continues to produce it to honor her memory. Ben says it’s a form of entertaining relatives, neighbors and friends. In essence, “It is our way of sharing  blessings, for wowing the brightness of it all and expressing huge thanks for their presence dropping by our humble abode to simply view the colors of Christmas and feeling the spirit in the air. We feel joy each time they visit our home.”

The public is invited to visit and view the Christmas lights display at No. 47 Finance St., GSIS Village, Project 8, Quezon City.

By the way, Ben De Leon is the president of The Forum for Family Planning and Development. A staunch RH advocate, he was one of the “backroom” boys of PFVR, serving as his Presidential Assistant for Social Development.

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Email: [email protected]