REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL... in layman's view...

One of the hottest political issue and highly divisive, with religious institutions, and major political figures before, and the center of topic after the SONA of President  Aquino is the RH BILL or the so called the REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL.

What is this BILL ?,
What are the benefits that every Filipino can enjoys if this bill is pass ?
and Why the religious sector specially the Catholic church vocally opposed this bill ?
These are the questions that we should know so that we can understand this bill in a layman's view.

So what is this BILL ?

Actually there are two RH Bills that are Introduced. First and the most controversial bill the House Bill No. 4244 (An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development, and For Other Purposes) introduced by Albay 1st district Representative Edcel Lagman. And why this is the most controversial ? Because it is the widely debated.
Second the Senate Bill No. 2378 (An Act Providing For a National Policy on Reproductive Health and Population and Development) introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago. why this is less controversial...well ! who have the guts to debate Sen Santaigo.

In this post we will focus our attention to the House Bill No.4244, because this is the most controversial today.

The Bill Declaration policies state that the government recognizes and guarantees the exercise of the universal basic human right to reproductive health by all persons, particularly of parents, couples and women, consistent with their religious convictions, cultural beliefs and the demands of responsible parenthood. There shall be no discrimination against any person on grounds of sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, disabilities, political affiliation and ethnicity.

The government also recognizes and guarantees the promotion of gender equality, equity and women’s empowerment as a health and human rights concern. The advancement and protection of women’s human rights shall be central to the efforts of the State to address reproductive health care. The government also recognizes and guarantees the promotion of the welfare and rights of children. It also guarantees universal access to medically-safe, legal, affordable, effective and quality reproductive health care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant information and education thereon even as it sorts the needs of women and children, among other underprivileged sectors.

The government will eradicate discriminatory practices, laws and policies that infringe on a person’s exercise of reproductive health rights.

What are the benefits that every Filipino can enjoy if this bill is pass ?



1.The Local Government Units (LGUs) with the assistance of the DOH, shall employ an adequate number of  fulltime skilled birth attendant    one for every one hundred fifty (150) deliveries per year.

2.  Province and City, with the DOH, will upgrade hospitals to have adequate and qualified personnel, equipment and supplies to be able to provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care. For every 500,000 population, there shall be at least one (1) hospital with comprehensive emergency obstetric and neonatal care and four (4) hospitals or other health facilities with basic emergency obstetric and neonatal care.

3. All accredited health facilities shall provide a full range of modern family planning methods. For poor patients, such services shall be fully covered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and/or government financial assistance on a no balance billing.

After the use of any Phil Health benefit involving childbirth and all other pregnancy-related services, if the beneficiary wishes to space or prevent her next pregnancy, Phil Health shall pay for the full cost of family planning.

4. The LGUs and the DOH shall ensure that a Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for reproductive health, including maternal and neonatal health care kits and services as defined by the DOH, will be given proper attention in crisis situations such as disasters and humanitarian crises.

5. All LGUs, national and local government hospitals, and other public health units shall conduct annual maternal death or maternal mortality rate review in accordance with the guidelines set by the DOH.

Maternal mortality rate (MMR) is the annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management (excluding accidental or incidental causes). The MMR includes deaths during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, for a specified year. "The mortality rate for Filipino mothers has increased to 221 per 100,000 live births in 2011 from 162 per 100,000 live births in 2009."

6. Products and supplies for modern family planning methods shall be part of the National Drug Formulary and the same shall be included in the regular purchase of essential medicines and supplies of all national and local hospitals and other government health units.

7. The DOH shall spearhead the efficient procurement, distribution to LGUs and usage-monitoring of family planning supplies for the whole country. The supply and budget allotment shall be based on number of women of reproductive age and couples who want to space or limit their children. The contraceptive prevalence rate, by type of method used. and the cost of family planning supplies.

8. A multi-dimensional approach shall be adopted in the implementation of policies and programs to fight poverty. The DOH shall endeavor to integrate a responsible parenthood and family planning component into all antipoverty and other sustainable human development programs of government.

9. The LGUs shall ensure that poor families receive preferential access to services, commodities and programs for family planning. The role of Population Officers at municipal, city and barangay levels in the family planning effort shall be strengthened.

10. All serious and life threatening reproductive health conditions such as HIV and AIDS, breast and reproductive tract cancers, obstetric complications, menopausal and post-menopausal related conditions shall be given the maximum benefits as provided by PhilHealth programs.

11. Each Congressional District may be provided with at least one (1) Mobile Health Care Service (MHCS) in the form of a van or other means of transportation appropriate to coastal or mountainous areas. The MHCS delivers health care supplies and services to constituents, more particularly to the poor and needy, and shall be used to disseminate knowledge and information on reproductive health. The purchase of the MHCS may be funded from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of each congressional district.

12. Age-appropriate Reproductive Health and Sexuality Education shall be taught by adequately trained teachers in formal and non-formal educational system starting from Grade Five up to Fourth Year High School using life skills and other approaches.

13. Each Local Population Officer or the family planning officer of every city and municipality shall furnish free instructions and information on responsible parenthood, family planning, breastfeeding, infant nutrition to all applicants for marriage license.

14 . Barangay Health Workers and other community-based health workers shall undergo training on the promotion of reproductive health and shall receive at least 10% increase in honoraria, upon successful completion of training.

15. The government will assist couples, parents and individuals to achieve their desired family size within the context of responsible parenthood for sustainable development and encourage them to have two children as the ideal family size. Attaining the ideal family size is neither mandatory nor compulsory.

16 . The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) shall ensure that employers respect the reproductive rights of workers. Employers with more than two hundred (200) employees shall provide reproductive health services to all employees in their own respective health facilities. Those with less than two hundred (200) workers shall enter into partnerships with hospitals, health facilities, or health professionals in their areas for the delivery of reproductive health services. Employers are obliged to monitor pregnant working employees among their workforce and ensure that they are provided paid half-day prenatal medical leaves for each month of the pregnancy period that the pregnant employee is employed in their company or organization. These paid pre-natal medical leaves shall be reimbursable from the Social Security System (SSS) or the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

17 . Private and non-government reproductive health care service providers, including but not limited to gynecologists and obstetricians, are mandated to provide at least forty-eight (48) hours annually of reproductive health services.

18. The cities and municipalities must ensure that barriers to reproductive health services are obliterated by providing physical access, and resolving transportation and proximity issues to clinics, hospitals and places where public health education is provided.

19. The government shall guarantee the right of any person to provide or receive non-fraudulent information about the availability of reproductive health care services, including family planning, and prenatal care.

20. This Act recognizes that abortion is illegal and punishable by law, the government shall ensure that all women needing care for post-abortion complications shall be treated and counseled in a humane, non-judgmental and compassionate manner.

Penalties. Any violation of this Act or commission of the foregoing prohibited acts shall be penalized by imprisonment ranging from one (1) month to six (6) months or a fine of Ten Thousand (P 10,000.00) to Fifty Thousand Pesos (P 50,000.00) or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the competent court; Provided That, if the offender is a public official or employee, he or she shall suffer the accessory penalty of dismissal from the government service and forfeiture of retirement benefits. If the offender is a juridical person, the penalty shall be imposed upon the president or any responsible officer. An offender who is an alien shall, after service of sentence, be deported immediately without further proceedings by the Bureau of Immigration.

Why the religiuos sectors specially the Catholic church vocally opposed this bill ?

The religious sector sited eight points why they opposed.

1. The Reproductive Health Bill undermines the human rights it seeks to advance.

The Bill cannot, guarantee the universal basic human right to reproductive health "the right to make free and informed decisions,”

2. Maternal Health requires access to healthcare facilities and reproductive health education, not contraceptives.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) states that three-fourths (¾) of all maternal deaths could be averted by the presence of skilled birth attendants. By contrast, family planning is likely to reduce maternal deaths only by one-third.

3. It does not protect the rights of conscience of those that will be responsible for implementing new measure.

This bill does not include measures that protect conscientious objections for healthcare workers or institutions that refuse to provide services due to religious or cultural beliefs and practices. In addition, through state-imposed reproductive health curriculum in schools, this bill undermines the rights of parents to be the primary educators of their children. Likewise, denying couples the right to marry without first receiving “adequate instruction” on family planning and responsible parenthood violates their individual freedom conscience and discriminates against those who would refuse such training in religious or cultural grounds.

4. It violates freedom of expression.

The bill’s criminalization of speech that “maliciously engages in misinformation” (an undefined category) about the substance or even potential motives behind the RH bill violates the constitutional right to free speech and expression. The provision should be eliminated in its entirety.

5. Increase in Contraceptive use leads to higher abortion rate.

First, contraceptives fail a certain percentage of the time. A 5% failure rate means that 5% of the couples using a certain method will be pregnant at the end of the year. Second, the use of contraceptives gives a false sense of security that leads to risky sexual behavior. The result is more “unplanned” pregnancies and hence more abortions.

6. It fails to reaffirm the Philippines’s protection of the unborn.

Filipino law has long defended the right to life of all persons, whether born or unborn. The Reproductive Health Bill makes only an ambiguous statement of principle (“While nothing in this Act changes the law against abortion...”) as part of a care provision for post-abortion complications. Additionally, the bill’s guarantee of “reproductive health care services,” as opposed to the defined term “reproductive health care,” as well as a “universal basic human right to reproductive health” according to international legal custom, could eventually open the door to undermining Philippines national law protecting unborn persons.

7. family planning programs that fail to meet the needs of the poorest populations.

“Strategies that seek to increase contraceptive use rapidly by improving services and access in convenient or well-resourced areas are likely to increase observed inequities in contraceptive use.” Maternal mortality and general reproductive health problems also remain high because the unique issues facing poor populations are not addressed. In this way family planning programs, by focusing on contraceptive use rather than an integrated, comprehensive approach to population development, fail to address the needs of the poor.

8. There has never been a direct link connecting high population with high poverty rates.

Population control, as an economic policy, has proven to be unsustainable. Across Europe and Asia, countries that saw steep declines in fertility in the past generation are now bracing themselves for the future consequences of an aging population, when a large number of elderly can no longer be supported by the smaller and younger working class. During the 1970s and 1980s, Singapore instituted an aggressive two-child policy, which led to a situation of labor shortages and the difficulty of supporting an aging population. In an effort to recover, Singapore now pursues a pro-fertility policy.

My VIEW

The Philippines population is way up high with the census number of 103,775,002 as of July 2011 in a land area of just 300,000 km2. We have a population growth rate of 2% per annum, meaning there are at least 2,075,500 people added to our population each year. We should not be surprise that with in 10 years time our population will reach 120 million plus. The Demographics study shows that the Philippines have the age structure distribution of 0 to 14 years 34.6% ( with a figure of Male 17,999.279/ female 17,285.040), 15-64 years 61% ( male 31,103,967/female 31,097,203) and 65 years and over: 4.3% (male 1,876,805/female 2,471,644). As of this point the Philippines population is concentrated in the productive age group, so we do not have to worry about an aging population in near future.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Philippines is among the countries with the highest incidences of maternal and children’s deaths around the world. Some 4,500 pregnant women (an estimated 221 maternal deaths in every 100,000 live births in2011) die each year due to childbirth complications such as hypertension, hemorrhage, and sepsis, among others. Insufficient information on pregnancy care and the inaccessibility of health services, especially in the rural areas, were indicated as factors. Experts believe as well that pregnant women’s reliance on childbirth attendants such as the hilot and the comadrona (midwife) also contribute to the rate of maternal and infant deaths. While the government has put health reforms in place and continues to campaign for better health facilities to help address the lack of awareness with regard to maternal care and health services, they are still way below their targets on maternal mortality rates. The UN Millennium Development Goal aims to reduce these to 75 percent by 2015. Family members, particularly daughters carry the burden in the case of a mother passing away due to childbirth, since their education is usually put on hold to look after the younger siblings. Losing the privilege to proper schooling exacerbates poverty and maternal death rates. Mentioned in a UNICEF report: “If a girl is educated six years or more, as an adult her prenatal care, postnatal care and childbirth survival rates will dramatically and consistently improve."