Ducking a prophet’s lament

We goofed,  Sen. Francis Escudero admitted. Legislators dozed  when a libel proviso was sneaked into the Cybercrime Prevention Act. Escudero, who filed a bill to decriminalize libel, wants the controversial  Section 4C (4) scrapped.

Sen. Pia  Cayetano focused on the bill’s  sanctions on crimes against children on the Net. Thus, she overlooked a rider that Sen.  Vicente Sotto III denies inserting.  It would   impose excessive criminal penalties for libel on the Internet.

Others who also didn’t spot the legal booby trap backpedaled in the backlash. The discomfort level is high. “Who hinders not a mischief is guilty of it,” an old proverb says.

The Supreme Court may consolidate five challenges claiming the rider is unconstitutional  It infringes on freedom of expression and  privacy of communication, asserts Sen. Teofisto Guingona,  who cast  the only “nay” vote. “It’s a throwback to the Dark Ages.”

“Once burned, twice shy.”  So how do we ensure we’re not conned again?

Heed early warning signals for a start. Tomorrow’s controversy could swirl around an innocent sounding bill titled “An Act Promoting a Comprehensive Program on Breastfeeding Practices and Regulating the Trade, Marketing, and Promotions of Certain Foods for Infants and Children.”

This would, in fact, gut the Milk Code (Executive Order 51) and the “Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act.” Both improved child health and survival, note the Philippine Medical Association, Academy of Family Physicians, Obstetrical and Gynecological Society plus Perinatal  Association.

“Breastfeeding is the single most cost-effective intervention,” their position paper asserts. Should this  become law, it would subject  infants and children to risk from diarrhea, pneumonia to “even death.” About 16,000 young Filipino children die yearly because of  “suboptimal breastfeeding and inappropriate complementary feeding practices,” World Health Organization estimates.

The 2008 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) found that only three out of 10 mothers breastfeed. This has now risen to over 51 percent. Next  year’s NDHS could confirm a further upswing

Such gains would be wiped out, cautions  Nutrition Center of the Philippines’ Dr. Florentino Solon. If  mothers (a) fail to initiate; or (b) cease breastfeeding in the first six months of a infant’s life, “diarrhea-related mortality bolts 8 to 10 percent. Breastfeeding is a major determinant of stunting among children aged 6 months of age, studies show. Weight gain in an infant’s first two years of life  is associated with better school outcomes.

“In 60 years of work in public health and nutrition, I’ve seen how milk company marketing undermine infant nutrition in many countries,” Solon added. Milk donations seem harmless. But “scientific evidence shows (they) can increase diarrhea six-fold. This is the experience of other developing countries. We need not repeat their experience.”

Indeed, it is vital to “protect, promote, and support exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued breastfeeding up to two years or beyond,” states the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

Don’t loosen age restrictions that the Milk Code pegs at 0-36 months, the position paper urges. Maintain the provision in the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act that entitles mothers to compensable breaks to breastfeed.

Exclude milk companies from  policymaking bodies  for  promotion of breastfeeding. This is patent conflict of interest. Milk firms  seek to increase sales which decreases breastfeeding rates. Prohibit advertising, promotion, sponsorships and marketing of materials and activities for breast milk substitutes.

Watering down current laws will reopen floodgates to once-prohibited advertising. These confuse pregnant and lactating mothers. Children are more likely to be given milk formula if  mothers recalled advertising messages or if a doctor or a relative recommended it, a survey shows. Those fed  milk formula were six times more likely to stop breastfeeding before the age of 12 months.

Reject offers from milk and infant feeding-related industries. That includes at all times, including calamities. It is a myth that such donations are essential. In post-Typhoon Sendong evacuation centers, fewer than one out of 100 infants in Iligan and five out of 100 in Cagayan de Oro were exclusively formula-fed.

Ban distribution of samples of breastmilk substitutes in the healthcare system. That sends conflicting messages that subtly accord  donor companies and their products with “undue respect” while undermining benefits of breastfeeding. “Current efforts at amending the existing Milk Code serve only the interests of multinational milk and infant feeding industry.”

The position paper urges legislators to rethink their proposal. Instead,  “be co-advocates in  promotion of good health for our infants and young Filipino children… The common good, especially of the young who cannot speak for themselves, must always be upheld over business- and self-interests.”

Unlike the Internet libel con game, there is time to heed the counsel of  heath professionals and  safeguard the  kids. That  would  avert another Massacre of the Innocents.

We would   then be spared  the prophet  Jeremiah’s lament:  “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”