Advocates spent many years—and several congresses—pushing for the passage of the Reproductive Health Law. This, after all, is a country where majority of the people were Catholics. The Catholic Church was perceived as influential, both on politicians and on ordinary mass-goers from the most remote of towns.
Heated debates and controversial statements characterized the bill’s journey. When it was finally passed in December 2012, the victory was short-lived. Numerous groups assailed the law’s constitutionality on varied grounds. It was only in April 2014 that the Supreme Court declared it, quite curiously, “not unconstitutional”.
Despite this, the law continues to face rough sailing. Bad news for the people it aims to enlighten and provide choices to.
The bicameral conference committee has slashed P1.157 billion, intended for the purchase of contraceptives that would be distributed to the poor, from the 2016 budget.
Senator Vicente Sotto III, who has always grounded his opposition to the bill on supposed morality, defends how they slashed the budget, saying that this is only a small part of the Department of Health’s overall budget of P123.5 billion.
Sotto now has the temerity to say he is “now in favor of the RH law because we made sure it had been cleansed of abortion, population control and the use of abortifacients.”
Sadly, this is the man who is topping the senatorial surveys.
Health Secretary Janette Garin said she only learned of the budget cut last week. The Health department is said to be coordinating with stakeholders on how it can still achieve its objectives despite the budget cut.
It is difficult to imagine how objectives could be met. The slashed portion of the DoH budget with its specific purpose has specific beneficiaries. Without it, poor families will not otherwise have access to their family planning options.
There is also the silent but steady growth in the number of new cases of HIV and AIDS in the country. We do not know if the government has come up with a plan on how to counter this trend, in an era where the number of new cases in other countries have been going down.
We join the chorus of those condemning what happened at the bicameral committee, no thanks to the leadership of some legislators hell bent on preventing the law from achieving its objectives. Poor families need guidance and access to contraceptives: that issue has long been settled.
Of what use are laws when scheming lawmakers lend their influence in ensuring they are not implemented well?