Duque vows to implement RH law
Despite being an advocate of natural family planning, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday committed to implement the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law, which guarantees access to contraception methods.
Duque said that “as a member of the executive branch and bureaucracy,” he has a “duty to implement” the RPRH Law.
“Otherwise, I will be charged with dereliction of duty, of gross neglect of duty,” he told reporters after the turnover ceremony for the position of health secretary.
“There was no law then, but now there’s a law. We have to implement,” he added.
This is Duque’s second term as chief of the Department of Health (DOH) after former health secretary Paulyn Ubial failed to get confirmation from the Commission on Appointments.
During his first term as health secretary, Duque told the Midwives’ Congress in August 2007 that the DOH will “push natural family planning for women who want to control their fertility.”
He said that while the DOH would promote the use of scientific natural family planning, it would only be a complementary strategy to advance women’s health and for those who may demand such service.
He believed that Filipino women were in dire need of quality obstetrical care more than artificial contraceptives.
Duque’s new commitment to implement the RPRH Law was welcomed by non-governmental organizations advocating for women’s rights. “That’s good. President Duterte is fully backing the RH Law so as the secretary of health, that should be his guiding line. That should be the path that Secretary Duque is taking,” said Benjamin de Leon, president of the non-governmental organization The Forum for Family Planning and Development Inc.
For Likhaan Center for Women’s Health executve director Junice Melgar, it would “be great if Secretary Duque will implement the letter of the law.”
“He cannot do policies by himself but he will need to follow the direction of his President and the President even issued Executive Order No. 12 endorsing a strong family planning program in all local government units and government agencies,” she added.
Melgar added that if Duque is a “professional health secretary, he will do what his President wants, regardless of his own belief.”