Muntinlupa mayor: Contraceptive ordinance dead

A controversial ordinance that was approved by Barangay (village) Ayala Alabang in Muntinlupa City regarding the sale and use of contraceptives will no longer be implemented, according to Mayor Aldrin San Pedro.

“[The ordinance] is dead,” San Pedro told the Inquirer in a phone interview Thursday. “It will no longer be implemented. Well, in the first place, they really cannot implement it because it was not approved by the city council.”

San Pedro added that in a recent meeting with officials of the barangay, he advised them to stop pushing the ordinance.

“The measure has been the cause of division among residents and various groups. They may already have made some revisions but city council still could not approve it because its content remains [in conflict] with the provisions of existing national laws,” the mayor explained.

“I told them maybe it’s time they finally put [it] to rest,” San Pedro said. “Besides, the issue has [dragged on for] too long.”

In February, the barangay council passed the “Protection of the Unborn Child Ordinance of 2011,” which states that a person who wants to buy contraceptives from stores in the area should first present a prescription from a doctor.

The city council, however, remanded it to the barangay level, citing some portions that may be seen as an infringement of human rights.  All local ordinances must be reviewed and approved by the city council before these can be implemented.

Responding to widespread criticism to the controversial legislation, the barangay council then submitted a revised version of the measure in which it did away with the provision that expressed outright support for natural family planning methods and imposed a ban on the promotion of artificial family planning methods in its health centers. Instead, it added a provision which called for the establishment of crisis pregnancy centers.

The Inquirer tried to reach barangay chairman Alfred Xerez-Burgos Jr. for comment but a staffer said he was in a meeting. Calls or text messages to his cell phone also went unanswered.