The RH bill and the young

National Youth Commission chairman Leon Flores’ statement implying that a Reproductive Health law—which promotes artificial contraceptives like pills, condoms and intrauterine devices—would significantly slow the rise in teenage pregnancies and the spread of HIV-AIDS among sexually active youth, is naive if not downright irresponsible.

Flores said the commission will continue to campaign for the passage of the bill.

He spoke  in last Sunday’s Cebu leg of the “Regional Consultations for the Philippine Youth Development Plan 2011-2016.”

Ironic how conveners called the event a consultation when the commission is just parroting support for the RH bill voiced by delegates to the 7th National Youth Parliament back in 2008.

Last time we checked, “consultation” meant “1. The action or process of formally consulting or discussing 2. A meeting with an expert or professional, such as a medical doctor, in order to seek advice.” (www.dictionary.com)

Who mandated Flores and the seven national youth commissioners, who sit coterminous with President Benigno Aquino III, to stomp for the RH bill? Were Sangguniang Kabataan officers elected only 10 months ago consulted? Were youth leaders in Protestant churches, Catholic parishes and Muslim mosques consulted?

The commission’s research division can point to their 2010 survey showing that 70 percent of 5,000 respondents support the legislation. But how do we know the supposedly young respondents read and discerned about all the provisions of House Bill 4244 that was consolidated just this year? (Were they formed well enough to give an informed response?)

In  a Provincial Board session in Flores’ home island of Cebu, SK Federation president Aladdin Caminero raised concerns about the bill’s provision on teaching sexuality to children  and about the legislation’s potential to send a “go” signal for promiscuity to the youth.

Would others like Caminero have pressed the board’s resource speakers further?

In  1993, a United States Naval Research study established that the HIV virus, about 0.1 microns in size (a micron is a millionth of a meter), can pass through condoms which have holes or “inherent defects… between five and 70 microns.”

Last year, a US study supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health showed that the teaching of sexual abstinence—not of  indulgence as long as pregancy or disease is  avoided—is the most effective way to deal with teenage pregnancy and the spread of HIV-AIDS in the young.

The NYC takes its mandate from the Philippine Constitution which states: “The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.”

The agency under Flores should resist temptations to violate the Constitution.