11.3M women eyed in contraceptive plan

WALK FOR LIFE Parishioners and members of the clergy take part in a rally on Feb. 16 in Quezon City against government policies deemed to be antilife. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

President Rodrigo Duterte is stepping up the government’s family planning program in the next four years by encouraging more Filipinos to use contraceptives — something that may not sit well with the Catholic Church.

The President and his Cabinet approved on Monday night “the full and intensified implementation plan for the national program on family planning,” according to presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo.

Panelo on Tuesday said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, head of the National Economic and Development Authority, and Executive Director of the Commission on Population and Development Juan Antonio Perez III presented the plan to the President and his Cabinet.

“The key strategy is the use of effective modern contraceptives where 11.3 million women would be given access over the next four years,” he said.

Panelo said the aim was to increase the usage of contraceptives among Filipinos from 40 percent to 65 percent.

“This is seen to prevent four million unintended pregnancies and two million cases of abortion over the said period,” he said.

Panelo pointed out that the country has the “highest fertility rate and fastest growing population in the region of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.”

He said the plan would reduce the poverty incidence from 20 to 14 percent in 2022 when the President ends his term.

It will also help promote better health and socioeconomic development among Filipinos, Panelo said.

“We understand that a great majority of Filipinos favor family planning but not all of them have access to contraceptives due to various reasons. Accordingly, the government is here to respond and help those who wish to undergo family planning,” he said.

The Church has been opposing moves to legalize abortion and the purchase and distribution of contraceptives.

Thehas been attacking the Church for criticizing him over the government’s war on drugs and said it should correct itself from transgressions of some members of the clergy.

But the President had also warned people against attacking the clergy, after Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle said that many bishops have been getting death threats from someone working for the Duterte family.