Argumentativ

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/01/12/Nickelodeon-resort-on-land.html

Developer: Nickelodeon resort

in Palawan will be on land
By Amanda Lingao, CNN Philippines
Updated 18:22 PM PHT Thu, January 12, 2017

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) The developer for the controversial

Nickelodeon theme park in Palawan has denied reports it plans to build an
underwater park, saying its facility will be a resort built on land.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Coral World Park Undersea Resorts

refuted claims it is building a theme park in Coron with Nickelodeon's
parent company, Viacom International Media Networks. The group clarified
it is planning a resort in the area but has no intention of building facilities
underwater.

Environmentalists and netizens have expressed outrage over the supposed

"underwater theme park", citing concerns about how this would harm
Palawan's ecology. However, the developer said there are no plans for such
a structure.

Susan Lee, Marketing & Communications Director of the Coral World Park,
said "There has never been any form of communication from our side
mentioning a theme park."

Lee added, "Our plans are to build a resort and attraction, of which we are
designing as an undersea attraction with an ocean conservation."
This statement comes amid reports that a 400-hectare undersea-themed
development in Palawan is underway. The proposal, made public by news
reports and a press release issued by Viacom on Tuesday, has spurred
petitions from environmental groups and citizens wary of its effects on
Palawan's pristine marine ecosystem.

Coral World Park said while the company takes the petitions seriously, most
of the information on the resort was misunderstood.

The company clarified that the "undersea theme park" is not really
underwater, but will be land-based. All developments in the park will be on
ground, and the only facility built on sea will be floating on water.

While 100 hectares have been allocated for the Nickelodeon facility, only 30
hectares will be used for the attraction itself.

The company added the resort will center on conservation tourism and,
when completed, will be the largest coral reef conservation program in
Asia.

It said it will secure all necessary permits from the government before it
starts building the facility.
Informativ
http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/01/11/Duterte-EO-supporting-family-
planning.html

Duterte orders full

implementation of modern
family planning by 2018
By Regine Cabato, CNN Philippines

Updated 21:20 PM PHT Wed, January 11, 2017

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) President Rodrigo Duterte signed an

executive order providing funds and support for modern family planning, in
a bid to make modern family planning available to the poor by 2018.

"This Order aims to intensify and accelerate the implementation of critical

actions necessary to attain and sustain 'zero unmet need for modern family
planning' for all poor households by 2018," reads Executive Order No. 12,
signed by Duterte on January 9 and released on Wednesday.
Among the strategies outlined in the four-page document is to do a
comprehensive review of couples and individuals in need of family planning
services.

"There is a plan in the next six months for local governments to go out in
the field, to do house-to-house visits, identify those in need of family
planning, [and work] with all these agencies," National Economic and
Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Ernesto Pernia said in a
press briefing Wednesday.

Strengthening the Implementation of the Reproductive Health law is part of

President Duterte's 10-point socio-economic agenda.

Pernia said that if the law was not implemented properly, the Philippines
would be "unable to meet our poverty reduction target."

The government hopes to reduce poverty to 13 percent by the end of

Duterte's six-year term in 2022, the socio-economic manager added.

The Philippines has six million women, of which two million are poor, that
"have unmet need for any modern method of contraception, and remain
unable to fully exercise their reproductive rights," the Executive Order said,
citing Philippine Statistics Authority findings from 2013.

EO provisions

The order seeks to mobilize the Department of Health, Commission on

Population, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in
implementing "quality modern family planning information and services."
It called for the agencies to map areas and locate individuals with unmet
needs, mobilize local structures, conduct demand generation and referral
activities, and partner with the private sector.

The Health Department is tasked by the EO to "review the gaps in the

implementation of the (Reproductive Health) law, issue corresponding
orders and guidelines, and implement interventions to support LGUs (local
government units) and (civil society organizations)."

The Department of Education is also tasked to implement a "gender

sensitive and rights-based" sexuality education in schools.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development is set to integrate the

law's strategies in the national poverty reduction and social protection
programs.

The Philippine Commission on Women is expected to "promote

reproductive health rights."

PhilHealth will "implement benefit packages that ensure maximum benefits

for family planning services."

The Commision on Population will adopt the attainment of "zero unmet

need for modern family planning as a population management strategy."
The Philippines has a population of over 100 million.

The order provides that funds for the implementation of the plan "shall be
sourced from available funds of the agencies concerned," although future
expenses are to be included in budget proposals.

It also said that the Department of Budget and Management "may realign
and augment appropriations" in accordance with regulation.
Against TRO on contraceptives

The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law was enacted

under President Noynoy Aquino in December 2012 after a contentious 14-
year battle with the Catholic Church and pro-life groups.

But its full implementation was held back by a temporary restraining order
(TRO) against contraceptive implants, issued by the Supreme Court in July
2015.

The TRO came after the health department had acquired around 400,000
contraceptive implants for distribution. Complaints that the contraceptives
had alleged abortaficient qualities surfaced, which the government
contested.

"[Pro-life groups] keep saying that contraception or family planning or the

reproductive health law is abortifacient, it's anti-life," said Pernia. "But... we
in the government, we think differently... We feel that it is pro-life, pro-
women, pro-children, and pro-economic development."

Pernia said the TRO covered only government agencies, and the Executive
Order provides for collaborations with civil society and the private sector.

"There might be some municipalities or local governments that can... get

around the TRO by letting (non-government organizations) implement the
RPRH Law because the private sector is not covered by the TRO," said
Pernia.

Pernia also said that "the government cannot continue to tolerate this delay
in judgment" and they are hoping the TRO would be lifted.
Health Secretary Dr. Paulyn Ubial also told The Source on Wednesday that
they had filed a motion for reconsideration for the TRO at the Supreme
Court.

She said she was "very happy" to announce that the order had been
signed.

"So that means that we really have to reach out to all couples so that they
will be provided services, so that they can practice the number of children
that they desire and the spacing that it would need," said Ubial.

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