Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – There is no longer a need to pass the Reproductive Health (RH) bill since the government has already allocated more than P21 billion for RH-related programs in 2013, Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said Tuesday night.
Of the P56.8 billion proposed next year’s budget of the Department of Health, Sotto said a total of P21.7 billion was allocated for RH-related programs, including the P13.5 billion for Health facilities Enhancement Programs.
Also included in the DOH’s budget, he said, was the P2.5 billion for Family Health and Responsible Parenting.
And when he checked the breakdown of the P2.5 billion budget, Sotto said, he found out 30 items related to the RH bill.
Among them are the P365.719 million funding for Support of Operation of Community Health Team; P245 million for Family Planning Commodities, Pills; P170.4 million for I.U.D.; P91.2 million for Injectables; P31.1 million for Natural Family Planning Bundle Packs; and P11. 336 million for Bilateral Tubal Ligation Kits
The other items are the following:
1. P3.5 million for Adolescent Health and Development Program Integration into Curriculum (private and public schools)
2. P100,000 for Updating of National Family Planning Police
3. P4 million for Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey
4. P1.4 million for National Assessment of Commodities and Supplies for Term and Pre-Term Newborns in Birthing Facilities
5. P2.750 million for Research on Men’s Health and their Involvement in Reproductive Health
6. P1.5 million for Research on Men’s Health and Neonatal Data Mobility and Mortality
7. P1.7 million for National Adolescent Awareness Campaign
8. P10 million for Airing of Family Planning and Maternal Newborn Child Health (MNCH) and Infomercials
9. P1.5 million for High Performer CHD and LGU on Family Planning
10. P1.620 million for MNCHN Essential Intrapartum and Newborn care, Advocacy Partners’ Forum
11. P2.2 million Training for HS Peer Educators on Adolescent and Youth Health Program
12. P2.2 million for Competency Training of Rural Health Units Staff AYPH
13. P60,000 for Dissemination Forum on the Results of Study on the Tolerability and Safety of Implanon
14. P1.080 million for Facilitators Training Course on CPG for Common Causes for Neonatal and Morbidity
15. P720,000 for Facilitators Training Course on Neonatal Death Review
16. P1.4 million for Scaling up Essential Intrapartum and Newborn Care Inverting Facilities
17. P1.296 million for Consultative Planning Workshop on BEmONC/CEmONC Area Based
18. P9.1 million for Iodine for Pregnant Mothers
19. P7.8 million for Iodine for Lactating Mothers
20. P29.250 million for Tetanus Containing Vaccine
21. P364, 5000 for Pregnancy Test Kit
22. P3 million for Reproduction of Family Planning Materials
23. P500,000 for No Scalpel Vasectomy
24. P7 million for Pelvic Models
“Given these items that I have mentioned, which are all related to the provisions of the bill, it seems to me that the RH bill is already being implemented by the DOH,” Sotto said when he interpellated the budget of the DOH.
“The best argument against the RH bill is the Department of Health. Because they are already doing this. They have the budget for it, they are doing it,” he added.
Sotto said he was not questioning the government’s budget for RH but an attempt to make it mandatory by passing the RH bill.
“Bakit kelangan nating gawing batas na may penalty, na may makukulong kapag hindi sumunod, kapag hindi namigay ng contraceptives? (Why do we have to make it a law, with penalty, that someone has to be put in jail if he refuses to distribute the contraceptives?)” he asked.