In this March 23, 2009 file photo, St. Peter’s Basilica is seen behind a hand of a demonstrator holding a condom, on the edge of the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square, in Rome. AP
An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) claimed that the Department of Health’s initiative to distribute condoms in schools will only result in the spread of HIV-AIDS.
Balanga, Bataan Bishop Ruperto Santos, chairman of the CBCP – Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, told Radyo Veritas in an interview that the agency is just exposing the Filipino youth to premarital sex.
“You cannot correct a mistake by making a mistake,” Santos said. “Giving condoms or pills is just encouraging immoralities and illicit affairs.”
DOH Secretary Paulyn Ubial on World AIDS Day (last Thursday) said that the agency will be distributing condoms after providing students with counseling once they are able to agree with the Department of Education on a “strategy” to combat the rise of HIV and AIDS among Filipino youth.
READ: DOH to start giving out condoms in schools next year
HIV or the human immunodeficiency virus infects cells of the immune system, making the patient vulnerable to infections. AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a term applied to advance stages of HIV infection, according to the World Health Organization.
HIV is usually transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse and transfusion of contaminated blood. It can also be transmitted between a mother and her child during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.
Earlier reports said that there were 38,114 HIV cases recorded in the Philippines from 1984 to October 2016. Of the number, 32,099 were recorded from 2011 to 2016. Almost a third of that involved patients aged 15 to 24.
Santos said teenage pregnancy can only be prevented through education. He said the youth should also be protected from social media pages “promoting sex and violence” and should be given a “curfew” when using the Internet or their mobile phones.
Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes also said 24-hour stores should be prohibited from selling contraceptives.
“That is absolutely immoral, absolutely irresponsible because of that we cannot allow and we would like the government to really do their best not to make those things (condoms, contraceptives) available selling simple things to our people,” Bastes was quoted saying.
“That is really a terrible practice, this is my opinion that by doing that it would make our people immoral, making our people unchristian, and even leading our people in danger because using condom is not even safe regarding the protection against HIV/AIDS,” he claimed.
He said condoms should not be sold over the counter.
Radyo Veritas President Father Anton CT Pascual instead suggested that Filipinos follow the “ABC” method or “A-Abstinence from sex outside marriage; B-be faithful to one another when married and C-conversion of heart to the value of love and sacredness of sex as a gift of God in marriage.”
The World Health Organization recognizes condoms, if used correctly and consistently, as “highly effective in preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI).”
“A large body of scientific evidence shows that male latex condoms have an 80 percecnt or greater protective effect against the sexual transmission of HIV and other STIs,” a WHO article said. KS/JE/rga