REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES: RESPONSIBILITIES AND REALITIES

Written by: Elizabeth Angsioco, National Chair, DSWP

for the forum “The Reproductive Health Bill & Its Relevance to Filipino Workers”
11 September 2008, Adarna Food & Culture, Quezon City - 1 -

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES:

RESPONSIBILITIES AND REALITIES

Elizabeth Angsioco
National Chairperson
Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (DSWP)

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH (RH)

- is a state of complete physical, mental & social well-being & not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system &
to its functions and processes. (WHO & ICPD)

RH implies that:

 People are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life; &
 They have the capability to reproduce; &
 The freedom to decide if, when & how often to do so.

Therefore, RH necessitates the following:

 Rights of women & men to be informed & to have access to safe, effective,
affordable & acceptable family planning methods of their choice, as well as
other methods for regulation of fertility WHICH ARE NOT AGAINST THE
LAW;

 The right to access to appropriate health care services that will enable
women to go safely through pregnancy & childbirth & provide couples
with the best chance of having a healthy infant.

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE

 the constellation of methods, techniques & services that contribute to

reproductive health & well-being by preventing & solving RH problems;

 also includes sexual health, the purpose of which is the enhancement of life
& personal relations, & not merely counseling & care related to
reproduction & STDs.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES: RESPONSIBILITIES AND REALITIES
Written by: Elizabeth Angsioco, National Chair, DSWP
for the forum “The Reproductive Health Bill & Its Relevance to Filipino Workers”
11 September 2008, Adarna Food & Culture, Quezon City - 2 -

PHILIPPINE RH PROGRAM 10 ELEMENTS (DOH AO 1-A s.

1998)

 Family Planning
 Maternal & Child Health & Nutrition
 Prevention & Management of Abortion Complications
 Prevention & Treatment of RTIs including STIs & HIV & AIDS
 Education & Counseling on Sexuality & Sexual Health
 Breast & Reproductive Tract Cancers & other Gynecologic Conditions
 Men’s Role & Participation
 Adolescent RH
 VAW
 Prevention & Treatment of Infertility & Sexual Disorders

PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION’S PROVISIONS ON RH:

Art. II. Sec. 12. - … The State shall equally protect the life of the mother & the
life of the unborn from conception…

Art. II. Sec. 15. – The State shall protect & promote the right to health of the
people and instill health consciousness among them.

Art. XIII. Sec. 11. – The State shall adopt an integrated & comprehensive
approach to health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods,
health & other social services available to all the people at affordable cost. There
shall be priority for the needs of the underprivileged, sick, elderly, disabled,
women & children. The State shall endeavor to provide free medical care to
paupers.

Art. XV. Sec. 3. [1] – The State shall defend the right of spouses to found a
family in accordance with their religious convictions and the demands of
responsible parenthood.

RH REALITIES IN THE PHILIPPINES:

1. MARRIAGE, PREGNANCY & CHILD BIRTH

.1. Mean age at marriage for males is 20 & 19 for females. (YAFS3, 2002)
.2. At age 19, 1 of every 5 young women is already married & 90% of those
married have already given birth. (DOH, 1999)
.3. Mean age at having 1st child is 19. (YAFS3, 2002)
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES: RESPONSIBILITIES AND REALITIES
Written by: Elizabeth Angsioco, National Chair, DSWP
for the forum “The Reproductive Health Bill & Its Relevance to Filipino Workers”
11 September 2008, Adarna Food & Culture, Quezon City - 3 -

.4. Almost 10% of young Filipino women aged 15-19 has already given birth.
(NDHS, 1998)

.5. Adolescent pregnancy is 30% of all annual births. (DOH/WHO/UNFPA

Training Manual)
.6. Poor and uneducated women marry & give birth earlier in life, & have
more children than women with higher education. (NDHS, 1998)
.7. More than 60% of all pregnancies in the Philippines is classified as high-risk.
(NHDS, 2003)
.8. More than 10 Filipino women die daily due to pregnancy & childbirth-
related complications (UNFPA, 2007) & over half (56%) of yearly
maternal deaths are unreported.
.9. The WHO indicates that 99% of women who die from pregnancy &
childbirth complications comes from developing countries.
.10. Only about 25% of the poorest women is attended by skilled attendants
upon delivery. (NDHS, 2003)
.11. The desired fertility rate of Filipino women in 2.5 per woman. However,
actual total fertility rate is 3.5 or a difference of 1 child. (NDHS, 2003)
.12. Poor women have 3 times more children than the rich.

CLASS Desired Actual

Fertility Fertility
Lowest 3.8 5.9
(Poorest)
Second 3.1 4.6
Middle 2.6 3.5
Fourth 2.2 2.8
Highest 1.7 2.0
(Richest)

.13. Population growth rate (PGR) is pegged at 2.04% which translates to

about 2 million new Filipinos yearly.
.14. Poverty incidence is higher among big families.

POVERTY INCIDENCE
Family 1997 2000 2003
size
Phils. 28.1 27.5 24.4
1 8.36 7.57 4.44
2 11.76 11.74 7.81
3 15.86 14.52 11.45
4 20.44 19.62 17.05
5 27.38 27.14 24.31
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES: RESPONSIBILITIES AND REALITIES
Written by: Elizabeth Angsioco, National Chair, DSWP
for the forum “The Reproductive Health Bill & Its Relevance to Filipino Workers”
11 September 2008, Adarna Food & Culture, Quezon City - 4 -

6 35.59 37.00 33.48

7 41.22 45.62 41.44
8 47.81 52.70 46.55
9 52.41 55.42 52.27
10 48.99 54.44 50.63
> 10 43.35 50.74 52.96

2. FAMILY PLANNING (FP):

2.1. Mean age at first sex for males is 17 & 18 for females. (YAFS 3, 2002)
2.2. 16% of youth had first sex before age 15. (SPPR2, 2002)
2.3. 31.2% of males & 15.9% of females had premarital sex. (YAFS 3, 2002)
2.4. 27% of males & 14.5% of females used contraception during first
premarital sex (YAFS 3, 2002)
2.5. The lowest rate of contraceptive use is among the 15-19 years age bracket
(NDHS, 1998)
2.6. The majority of women practicing family planning uses modern instead of
traditional (calendar, rhythm, abstinence & withdrawal) methods. (FPS,
2006)
2.7. Only 0.4% of women uses natural family planning (NFP) methods
(Mucus/Billings/Ovulation, Standard Days, LAM) & only 13.2% uses
traditional methods. (FPS, 2005)
2.8. Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR)

SURVEY Total Modern Traditional

(%) Methods Methods
1968 Nat’l Demographic & Health Survey 15.4 2.9 12.5
(NDHS)
1973 NDHS 17.4 10.7 6.7
1983 NDHS 32.0 18.9 13.3
1988 NDHS 36.1 21.6 14.5
1993 NDHS 40.0 24.9 15.1
1995 Family Planning Survey (FPS) 50.7 25.5 25.2
1996 FPS 48.1 30.2 17.9
1997 FPS 47.0 30.9 16.1
1998 FPS 46.6 28.2 18.3
2000 FPS 47.0 32.3 14.7
2001 FPS 49.5 33.1 16.4
2002 FPS 48.8 35.1 13.8
2003 FPS 48.9 33.4 15.5
2004 FPS 49.3 35.1 14.2
2005 FPS 49.3 36.0 13.2
2006 FPS 50.6 35.9 14.8
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES: RESPONSIBILITIES AND REALITIES
Written by: Elizabeth Angsioco, National Chair, DSWP
for the forum “The Reproductive Health Bill & Its Relevance to Filipino Workers”
11 September 2008, Adarna Food & Culture, Quezon City - 5 -

2.9. Almost 60% of women source their supply of FP services & supplies from
the public sector. The government has been dependent on outside donors
for its contraceptive commodities. USAID has completely phased out its
donations this year.
2.10. 61% of currently married women does not want additional children
anymore. (NDHS, 2003)
2.11. 50.6% of the youth wants to have only 2 children. (YAFS 3, 2002)
2.12. The unmet need for contraceptives is 23.15% for poor women & 13.6 for
women who are not poor. (NDHS, 2003)
2.13. 97% of all Filipinos believe it is important to have the ability to control
one’s fertility or to plan one’s family. 87% of total respondents is Roman
Catholic. (Pulse Asia Survey, February 2004)
2.14. FP can reduce maternal deaths by 32%. (DOH)

3. ABORTION

3.1. Unwanted pregnancy causes over 400,000 induced abortions every year.
(UPPU-AGI, 2006)
3.2. It is estimated that 16 out of every 100 pregnancies end in abortion. (Perez,
Aurora et al. 1997)
3.3. The big majority of women having induced abortion are poor (68%),
married (91%), with more than 3 children (57%), and Catholic (87%).
(UPPU-AGI, 2006)
3.4. By age groups, 27.9% of women who had induced abortion was aged 20-
24, 26.5% aged 25-29, and 19.3% was aged 30-34. (Raymundo, Corazon.
1998)
3.5. Over 78,000 women were hospitalized for complications of induced
abortion. (UPPU-AGI, 2006)
3.6. Some reasons why women have abortions:
 Too many children
 Birth spacing
 Poverty
 Rape/incest
 Unstable relationship
 Too young
(Safe Motherhood Fact Sheet: Unsafe Abortion, 1999)

WHAT FILIPINOS SAY:

About family planning:

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES: RESPONSIBILITIES AND REALITIES
Written by: Elizabeth Angsioco, National Chair, DSWP
for the forum “The Reproductive Health Bill & Its Relevance to Filipino Workers”
11 September 2008, Adarna Food & Culture, Quezon City - 6 -

 92% of Filipinos considers FP important. (Ulat ng Bayan, Pulse Asia Survey,

2007)

 89% of Filipinos thinks that government should provide budgetary support

for modern methods of FP including modern contraceptives. (Ulat ng
Bayan, Pulse Asia Survey, 2007)

About pro-RH politicians:

 86% says that candidates for elective positions who advocate a program
for women’s health should be supported;

 82% of the population says that candidates in favor of couples’ free choice
of FP should be supported;

 82% considers candidates supporting a law on population issues worthy of

their votes; and

 83% says that they are in favor of candidates who support the allocation
of government funds for FP.

Source: Pulse Asia Survey, 2004