Report on scrapping of UN birth control aid just propaganda, says cardinal

MANILA, Philippines—A retired cardinal said Friday the report about the United Nations scrapping its birth control program in the Philippines may just be  propaganda to “railroad” passage by the Philippine Congress of the controversial reproductive health bill.

“We have to be careful…. We have to continue our fight until they put it down not only because of this,” retired Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said over the Church-run Radio Veritas.

Vidal said that the disclosure made by Iloilo Representative Janette Garin on Wednesday caught him by surprise since it has long been confirmed that the family planning program being pushed in the country has foreign funding.

“It was confirmed to us during our legislators conversation with the CBCP (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines) that there was (funding),” said Vidal, who had earlier sat down, along with other members of the Church hierarchy, in a dialogue with lawmakers on the RH bill.

Vidal expressed  fear that such pronouncement might just be a propaganda “to railroad” the passage of the family planning measure.

On Wednesday, Garin, one of the staunch advocates of the bill, said she was informed that the UN was ditching its $1-million birth control program in the country starting next year due to lack of funding from members.

But in a statement on Friday, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reiterated its support for the Philippine government’s efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, particularly in reducing maternal deaths, and to ensure universal access to reproductive health, including family planning.

“These targets remain top priorities of the government and the UN’s assistance as these are among the targets least likely to be achieved by 2015,” according to the UNFPA.

The UNFPA is an international development agency that supports countries in using population data for policies, programs to reduce poverty and to ensure that “every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV-AIDS and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.”

Though the statement did not mention anything about the $1-million grant, it said the UN “has increased and will sustain” its support to maternal and neonatal health programs in the country to recognize the government’s renewed efforts to curb maternal and infant deaths.

It said also that the UN will continue to assist the government in promoting and protecting the Filipinos’ right to freely decide on the timing, number and spacing of their children.

This was in “keeping with President Aquino’s universal healthcare agenda,” it added.