Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo today said that the agency will commit to the tasks set to it by President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s Executive Order No. 12 titled “Attaining and Sustaining ‘Zero Unmet Need for Family Planning’ Through the Strict Implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act, Providing Funds Therefor, and For Other Purposes.”
The Duterte administration’s 10-point socio-economic agenda includes, among others, the strengthening of the implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (RPRH) to enable poor couples to make informed choices on financial and family planning.
The EO orders the DSWD to integrate the RPRH strategies in the national poverty reduction and social protection programs.
Sec. Taguiwalo said that there is a serious need to prioritize advocacy and information campaigns on women’s reproductive and maternal health.
“We do not need to dwell or focus on the aspect of population control when it comes to the implementation of RH Law. We want couples and families to engage in family planning because it will help ensure the health of mothers, unborn babies, and young children. Family planning, its different methods, and the reasons for spacing births and limiting the number of children should be explained in detail to women in our urban and rural poor communities not because there’s the scornful and unjust belief that the poor should not multiply and that all of them are simply careless and irresponsible when it comes to having and raising children. This is something we should correct. We should inform the Filipino people in general and the marginalized sectors in particular about reproductive health because we want a stronger, healthier population whose members can work for themselves, ensure their own well-being, defend and articulate their own rights under the law so they can, in the process, contribute to the development of society,” she said.
Sec. Taguiwalo added that reproductive health as well as programs on maternal and children’s health are already being taught in Family Development Sessions (FDS) of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
Social workers who reach out to members of urban poor communities also include reproductive health concerns in focus group discussions and consultations.
“Given Pres. Duterte’s instructions to ensure the law’s strict implementation, the DSWD will endeavor to find better, more socially responsive, and effective ways to propagate information on the act and its importance. We want the greatest number of Filipinos to be informed on family planning and reproductive health as a means to help them build stronger and healthier families, and we will help in the dissemination of information through our community and family-based interventions,” she said. #
