Advocates call for immediate implementation of RPRH Law

Over 1,500 Reproductive Health advocates who attended the country’s 2nd National Family Planning Conference called for the full implementation of RA 10354 or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law and President Duterte’s Executive Order 12 which centers on attaining and sustaining “Zero Unmet Need for Modern Family Planning."

Inspired by this year’s theme of ‘Delivering the Promise: Family Planning on the Ground,’ delegates from all over the country came in full force to support the call.

Leading the roster of esteemed speakers for the conference held November 8 to 9 in Cebu City was Congressman Edcel Lagman, a longtime staunch supporter and the Principal Author of the RH Law. The congressman addressed two things in his speech. One, that the FDA resolve the certification and recertification process of several contraceptives immediately based only on scientific evidence. He emphasized that the soonest contraceptives and contraceptive devices are certified as non-abortifacient, the faster the mandate of the RPRH Law will be fully realized. Second, the congressman called for adequate funding for Reproductive Health issues. This, in light of the drastic and substantial cut of the RH budget allocated for 2018.

Among the issues covered during the conference’s sessions include addressing unmet needs and improving access to sexual and reproductive health for different sectors (women, adolescents, LGBT, men), expanding contraceptive choices, linking demand for FP to services delivery. Several groups also shared best practices in Family Planning demand generation and service delivery.

“This second National Family Planning Conference has underlined the importance of the implementation of the RPRH Law within the next five years. The targets that we have set for ourselves under the Executive Order must be met for us to gain the largest economic and health benefits from the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law. The time to implement it is now, and not in the next few years,” said POPCOM Executive Director Dr. Juan Antonio Perez III on the sidelines of the conference.

For his part, The Forum for Family Planning and Development President Benjamin de Leon emphasized that “The tremendous success of this conference sends a powerful message of unity, strength and love to all Filipinos. It also sends a message to those who are hell bent in delaying the implementation of family planning programs and thereby, putting women’s lives in danger every day. We will continue the fight and we will not back down. The revolution of the Filipino people towards a sustained family planning program in the Philippines continues.”

The conference was organized by the Department of Health, the Commission on Population and the Forum for Family Planning and Development.