House Bill 4244 - "An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population

and Development" - won with a slim margin of 113-104 vote, on the first time it advanced to the second reading since it was first filed more than 15 years ago. Among the salient provisions of the bill are the following:

The State guarantees public access to and relevant information and education on medically safe, legal, ethical, affordable, effective and quality reproductive health care services, methods, devices and supplies which do not prevent implantation of a fertilized ovum in the uterus as determined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The State shall likewise prioritize the needs of poor women and men in marginalized households as identified by the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) and other government measures of identifying marginalization, who shall be voluntary beneficiaries of reproductive health care, services and supplies for free. The State shall also provide funding support to promote modern-natural methods of family planning consistent with the needs of acceptors. The State shall promote openness to life, provided that parents bring forth to the world only those children that they can raise in a truly humane way. There shall be no demographic and population targets and the mitigation, promotion and/or stabilization of the population growth rate are incidental to the advancement of reproductive health and sustainable human development. The teaching of reproductive health and sexuality education shall be promoted and conducted with due deference to cultural, religious and ethical norms of various communities. The FDA shall update the Philippine National Drug Formulary (PNDF) with respect to modern family planning products and supplies in accordance with standard medical practice.

By providing individuals and couples adequate information on and access to a wide range of medically safe, legal, and effective family planning methods, the bill capacitates Filipinos to make informed choices. It neither offers incentives nor imposes sanctions on an individual for choosing one family planning method over another, or for opting to have few or many children, if any at all. At the heart of the RH Bill is the right to informed choice on and access to ones preferred family planning method, provided that this is legally permissible. The reality is, despite the Philippines being predominantly Catholic; the majority of Filipinos want the full range of family planning services including artificial contraception. This has been affirmed consistently by various surveys done by credible polling organizations like the Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia. In summary, rather than violating religious and personal freedoms, the RH Bill in fact respects and guarantees them. It is not a population control bill which rewards or penalizes couples depending on the number of their children, or imposes a limit on the number of children one could

A number of arguments for and against the Reproductive Health bill have been posited and the debates have been mostly emotional, with the Senate seemingly succeeding in derailing the passage of the measure. The Catholic Church has taken the lead in opposing the passage of the bill into law, claiming that certain provisions are against Church teachings. The Church has even broadly defined abortion to include the use of condoms and other common contraceptives. It has mislabeled the RH bill as promoting abortion notwithstanding specific provisions to the contrary. Those opposed to the RH bill argue that we do not need measures to curtail population growth because we are not really overpopulated. In fact, a number of global economists look favorably at the Philippines because of its young and growing population. They claim that the demand for goods that these young Filipinos need will spur the growth of the Philippine economy. The opponents also mention the situation in Japan and other developed western nations that have had low population growth for decades now and thus face a graying population which the working class may eventually have difficulty supporting. But isnt this akin to our current situation, where the productive working class is unable to support the unproductive sectors of our population? Depending on ones values, many cynically prefer the status quo but without admitting that their position is founded on their own vested and selfish interests. From a selfish affluent Filipino familys standpoint, why curtail population growth when this provides an adequate supply of cheap and qualified maids, drivers and other members of the labor force? And since the poor are unable to afford sending their children to good but expensive schools, the children of the affluent families gain a real and distinct advantage in receiving much better education, which gives them better and improved chances of landing good-paying jobs. Since population growth is highest among the poor, this vicious chain of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer will be perpetuated. Access to contraceptives is denied only the very poor and uneducated in the country; it has never been a problem for the rich and a large part of the middle class. Thus, making contraceptives more accessible will not redound much to the benefit of these groups in our society. The RH bill, providing for better and easier access to contraceptives and pushing for responsible parenthood, is pro-poor and pro-development and will at least afford the poor the opportunity to better manage the size of their families. Access to a better life is a paramount right of every individual, and it is the governments duty to make this possible. People can be an asset or a liability. If they are educated, skilled and possess the right attitude and values, they are an asset. The challenge now is: How do we increase the number of Filipinos who can be assets to the country? How do we create the environment and circumstances that will enable us to achieve this? In relation to the RH bill, will its passage into law and the enforcement of its provisions contribute to or hamper the achievement of this environment? The answer is obvious. The ideal situation is, of course, one where there are both good quantity and good quality of Filipinos. However, blocking the RH bills passage and keeping the status quo will not make this possible. The governments current resources are not enough to take care of the poor and give them opportunities to pull themselves out of the quagmire of continuing poverty.

Lets look at our neighbors. Thailand, which had a population of 54.6 million compared to our 60.7 million in 1990, now has only 65.5 million compared to our 92.3 million. Thailands population grew by 20 percent, and ours by a whopping 52 percent! Its per capita GDP is $9,400, which is more than double our $4,100. There are, of course, other factors involved, but to a great extent, Thailands growth and development are attributable to the lower growth in its population. The empirical evidence on the high population growth of developing economies hampering their economic growth and development is so undisputable that the opponents of the RH bill resort to emotion and religion, and, to some extent, disinformation, to defend their position. Undeniably, the chances of improvement in the quality of life of the greater mass of Filipinos will be better if the RH bill is passed. It is high time we set aside our personal beliefs as to Gods mandate for us to go forth and multiply, looked squarely into the face of reality, and stopped being hypocritical. Surely, the majority of the millions who hear Catholic Masses every Sunday use contraceptives one way or another, particularly those with less than four children. If this were not so, then the average size of the Filipino family would have remained the samearound nine children, as was the case in the families of both my parents during their time.