The Forum for Family Planning and Development, Inc. (FORUM) and the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc. (PLCPD) laud the presidential candidates expressing their support for family planning and the reproductive  health bill.

Together with a growing number of supportive organizations in the country, both non-government organizations actively pushing for the passage of the pending House Bill 5043 or the “Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2009” and its Senate counterpart, Senate Bill 3122, have expressed in clear terms that reproductive health is important to each Filipino.

“Presidential candidates supporting reproductive health show that they are aware of the people’s needs and the duty of government to provide the right information and services on reproductive health. This will be to their advantage,” said Ben De Leon, FORUM president.

“Contrary to what the oppositionists are saying, reproductive health promotes the freedom of an individual to found a family. Reproductive health does not promote abortion but rather prevents it,” De Leon said.

He cites vasectomy and tubal ligation as an example. “Anti-RH claims it to be abortifacient, but the truth is that, these are safe and legal methods of family planning,” he said.

De Leon has called on some bishops to stop distorting the truth on the reproductive health bill.

“If they succeed in blocking the passage of this measure, they should be held accountable on the deaths of 11 mothers who die every day due to pregnancy and pregnancy related complications.”

Meanwhile, despite the warning issued by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro are standing pat on support for the RH measure.

Aquino said despite the Catholic church’s urging for him to drop his support to the pending Reproductive Health bill now pending in Congress, he would stick to his belief of a responsible family planning as a means to help curb the country’s growing population.

“Hindi pwedeng i-ignore ang problema. May problema talaga kailangan nating tugunan iyan. Natural ang populasyon maraming impact sa napakaraming bagay, eskwelahan, pagkain na available sa merkado, trabaho na pwedeng pagkunan ng kabataan lalo na yung mga bagong graduate,” Aquino said in an interview.

But he said the Church should be included in the education information so they could explain their side on the matter to the public.

However, Aquino said he is not inclined to support the RH bill in all of its phases or provisions especially on the issue of contraception.

When asked of his stand on the reproductive health bill, Teodoro said he is afraid of losing the Church’s support but said he could do nothing but stick to his conviction.

“Siyempre takot ako, pero iyon ang paniniwala ko, anung magagawa ko? Takot na takot talaga ako pero ang laban ng simbahan ay dapat sa kaluluwa natin, sa panalangin and our spiritual and moral formation. That’s the challenge but not through a law, not through a governmental action,” Teodoro said.

“I’m not against the bill. There are some portions of the existing Reproductive health bill that are acceptable to me but the punitive provisions (in the bill) I want to review,” he told reporters in an interview at the Senate.

“I’m against the enforced belief that (the use of) contraception is bad. It is up to a person to decide and the government should provide the means if a person really believes it,” Teodoro said.