MANILA, Philippines -- Flip-flopping by the political leadership has rendered the country?s family planning program ineffective, health officials said on Tuesday.

Dr. Honorata Catibog, director III of the Family Health Office ? National Center for Disease Prevention and Control of the Department of Health, said that the evaluation and strategic reviews of the program in different agencies implementing family planning activities showed that a shift in policy pronouncements in the national level has affected its implementation in the local scene.

?Nakita po natin na iyong pronouncements ng ating political leaders affected so much the implementation of the program (We saw that the pronouncements of our political leaders affected the implementation of the program),? Catibog said at the Health Forum on ?Updates on Studies of the National Family Planning in the Philippines? in Quezon city sponsored by the Philippine College of Physicians.

?There should be one direction, unified policy, unified communication plan na kung ano ang sinasabi sa itaas, dapat ganoon pa din sa ibaba para hindi maka- create ng confusion (so that what is said at the top is also the same message at the ground to avoid any confusion),? she stressed.

Catibog noted that under the regime of President Macapagal-Arroyo, priority was given to the promotion of the national family planning methods, both artificial and natural.

She said the use of artificial methods was not effective even in previous administrations because the focus was more on the methods to be used instead of the clients.

Also during the Arroyo administration, Catibog said the DOH had piloted manuals on sexuality among second year students in 17 public high schools nationwide.

The pilot-testing, however, was stopped by two population commissioners in Malacañang who were against the spread of the modules and ordered a review of the manuals.

?Doon tayo nag-urong sulong (That?s where we flip-flopped). Whoever assumes the political leadership, ganoon ang nangyayari (that?s what happens) and that is why there?s a need for a legislation that will really strengthen the efforts on how to go about the management of the program,? Catibog said.

Dr. Mariella Castillo, technical officer of Maternal and Child Health of the World Health Organization, agreed with Catibog that the program?s effectiveness would depend on the political will of national leaders.

?Sometimes, even if the policy is flip-flopping, the solutions can be very simple even if sasabihin na eh nasa political will na pag-implement (it is said that implementation is in the political will),? she said.

She said that the WHO country offices have been assisting governments in strengthening their health systems and promoting interventions that focus on pro-poor and cost-effective policies and standards.

According to Catibog, the Philippines, with a population of 91 million, now ranks 12th worldwide in terms of population size.

Under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, there has been a ?redirection? of the program in terms of theme to make sure that it will be implemented from the national level down to the regional and local levels, noting that President Aquino himself has expressed support for the promotion of both the natural and artificial methods.

?Wala pong changes sa DOH policy (There are no changes in the DOH policy). We are promoting all methods mentioned in the Administrative Order of the DOH which spelled out the family planning policy of the government in 2001. That has not been revised,? she said.

?This time, we?re giving importance to clients? needs instead of methods. It?s more of giving information to clients so that they can make an informed choice,? she added.