Senator Ralph Recto on Saturday urged the departments of Health and Education to focus their attention not only on distributing condoms, but also on the problem of waterless public school facilities in the country.
“The DepEd and the DoH should be as aggressive in putting an end to waterless schools as they are in pushing for the distribution of condoms in public schools. We would like to see the same determined collaboration in installing water facilities, in building more toilets, in providing other health services in the country’s 46,739 public elementary schools,” Recto said.
“If we’re going to give away condoms, then let us also provide clean drinking water to millions of schoolchildren. Let’s erase the backlog in water and sanitation facilities,” added Recto, who explained that hand washing is a basic preventive measure that staves off sickness that leads to class absences.
There are 3,628 out of 46,739 public schools nationwide are waterless based on records presented by the Department of Education last March.
“However, 8,109 schools rely primarily on rainwater catchment, which renders them basically waterless. This brings up the real total of waterless schools to 11,737. So about one in four, how many children are affected? Easily 5 million students,” he said.
Recto said only 18,393 schools nationwide have piped-in water while the next biggest source are deep wells, which 17,757 schools have.
“With lack of water comes the problem of sanitation facilities. There is a toilet shortage in all schools and you don’t need statistics to back that claim,” he said.
The senator said while the previous administration had started building more toilets, including classrooms with one, the toilet-to-room gap remains wide, as only a fraction of the 493,669 classrooms nationwide have lavatories.
“I think we should start treating water as a basic and important education resource,” he said.
Recto said the availability of water impacts not just on the health of students”•one survey said 60 percent of gradeschoolers have intestinal worms”•but also school-based nutrition programs.
“How can we cook if there’s not water. That’s basic,” said Recto referring to DepEd’s program to serve one free meal a day for 120 days to 1.9 million underweight Kindergarten to Grade 6 pupils.
Recto also called on DepEd and DOH to join hands in placing more dentists
in schools.
There are roughly 300 dentists serving a combined student-teacher population of 22.7 million. “There’s only 1 dentist for every 75,000 public school students and teachers,” he said.
Citing a government survey, Recto said one in seven absent from work or school at least once a month and 1 in 10 fail to go to school or work at least twice a year due to aching tooth or gums.
“Another disturbing finding of the survey is that 9 in 10 urban children have decayed tooth,” Recto said.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers have frowned on the DOH’s plan to distribute condoms in public schools as part of its implemention of the Reproductive Health Law.
Reps. Estrellita Suansing of Nueva Ecija, Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar, Lito Atienza of Buhay party-list and Tobias Tiangco of Navotas City said the government funds to be used for condoms should be spent instead for other basic social services, like medicines.
But Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said he sees nothing wrong with the distribution of condoms among high school students being part of the implementation of the RH Law.
“With the advent of technology and easy access to the Internet, the youth are well aware of what sex is about,” Albano said.
Albano said he supports the program, especially if it will help prevent unwanted pregnancies and arrest the spread of HIV/ AIDS among the youth.
Health Secretary Ubial said earlier the DoH would distribute condoms in public schools, particularly among high school students, starting next year to address what it claimed to be rising number HIV and HIV-AIDS cases among the youth.
Suansing denounced the plan of the DoH and doubted that such would address the problem.
“We are encouraging young minds to use it. For innocent students, they might be curious how it works and use it instead,” Suansing, member of the House committee on health, said.
Suansing also urged appropriate committees in the House of Representatives, such as the committee on health to look into the matter motu proprio to find out if the DoH is doing the right thing as far as the implementation of the Reproductive Health Law is concerned.
Atienza, a House deputy minority leader, said the distribution of condoms in public schools would not address the problem on HIV/ AIDS, among others,
Atienza said these issues were all part of the bigger picture of population control.
“Government should not interfere with God’s plan. Contrary to government’s perception, our growing population is our greatest asset as a nation. They should instead provide jobs and livelihood opportunities for every Filipino,” Atienza said.
He also said that instead of using the taxpayers’ money to buy condoms for distribution among the young minds, the DoH must spend the money to buy medicines for indigent patients.
“Our message to Secretary Ubial: Dont waste the people’s money for condoms,” Atienza said.
Evardone, on the other hand,opposed not only the DoH’s plan but also the fact that the Department of Education (DepEd) will be mobilized to distribute condoms.
“It will send a wrong signal to students that they are being encouraged to engage in sexual activities,” Evardone said. “Besides, teachers should concentrate on their sole duty to provide quality education to students,” he added.
Tiangco said both officials of the DoH and the DepEd have a lot of explaining to do on how far they would go to sustain the program and if this will be effective to achieve its purpose.
“I want to know from DepEd and DoH how many condoms do they plan to give each student? If they will just give one per student, then it is a useless program. Or can the students ask for unlimited condoms,” Tiangco.said.
He added: “DepEd and DoH should explain this first for us to evaluate whether the program has a chance to be effective or not.”
“Any program has to be sustainable that is why it is very important to know the quantity that they will be giving each student and the manner how it will be given,” Tiangco said.