Solon slams ‘foreign funding’ for birth control bill
By Christian V. Esguerra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:31:00 09/28/2008
MANILA -- Deputy Speaker Raul del Mar has challenged Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, chief promoter of House Bill No. 5043 or the reproductive health bill, to explain the role of a foreign-funded “non-governmental organization” in drafting the measure aimed at controlling the country’s population growth.
Saying the bill came “out of nowhere,” Del Mar wanted to know if the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) influenced lawmakers in preparing the substitute bill now being considered for approval on second reading.
“What is this PLCPD?” he asked in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday. “Why is it actively participating in the crafting of the bill? What is the nature of the organization?”
The matter was also the main subject of Del Mar’s interpellation of Lagman last Wednesday, during which he raised possible violations committed by the group in lobbying for the measure.
He said the PLCPD appeared so “privileged” that it even had an office at Room 611 at the Batasan complex.
Del Mar’s queries reflected the persistent argument by “pro-life” groups that Lagman’s population bill was a template measure similar to those also being pushed in other poor countries by foreign-funded agencies promoting contraceptives.
During interpellation, Lagman defended the PLCPD, where he serves as board secretary, saying its role has been limited to “assisting in the formulation of government policies.”
Ramon San Pascual, PLCPD executive director, admitted on Sunday that HB 5043’s “backbone” was the old population control bill his group earlier drafted with other NGOs in 2001.
“In terms of principles and philosophy, it’s still the same,” he said. “But in terms of content, only 30 percent of the original bill is reflected in the substitute measure.”
San Pascual admitted that the PLCPD has been getting millions in financial support from foreign agencies promoting contraceptives.
He said the group usually got P7 million to P8 million yearly each from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Europe-based Interchurch Conference Organization. He said another P3 million annually was sourced from the United Nations Population Fund.
Since it was getting money from foreign donors, the PLCPD would need to register with the Department of Justice before it could lobby for the population control measure, according to Del Mar.
“Its participation renders the bill defective,” he added.
Meanwhile, former social welfare secretary Dinky Soliman urged Church leaders on Sunday to better understand the reproductive health bill, stressing that it did not advocate abortion, nor did it eliminate family planning.
"What it advocates is no to abortion. The bill will give correct information on natural and artificial methods, and teach women and couples how to plan their families," she said at the Tinapayan forum in Manila.
Citing UN statistics, Soliman said three babies were being born every minute in the Philippines while 11 mothers were dying every day from reproductive health problems. Abortions reached 500,000 to 600,000 in 2007, she added.
With a report from Allison Lopez
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