MANILA, Philippines — The Sangguniang Barangay of Ayala Alabang will hold a public hearing on March 19 to tackle its controversial ordinance that bans the sale of contraceptives and requires prescription for condoms.

The decision was made after the barangay council led by Chairman Alfred Xerez-Burgos Jr. met with Mayor Aldrin San Pedro and city councilors Thursday regarding the ordinance.

Ayala Alabang’s ordinance prohibits the sale, promotion and distribution of intrauterine devices and hormonal contraceptives such as the pill within the jurisdiction of Ayala Alabang. It also made doctor’s prescription as a requirement if a person buys condom within the barangay.

The City Council’s Committee on Health and Sanitation, chaired by Councilor Margarita Patdu-Labios, opposed the ordinance after it was submitted by the barangay council last January.

The public hearing will be conducted to discuss three main provisions of the ordinance, which were opposed by the health committee.

The health committee told the barangay council that it cannot prohibit health workers at the Barangay Health Center from prescribing hormonal contraceptives and intrauterine devices (IUDs) since these are included in the Department of Health’s list of family planning methods.

It also opposed the provision in the ordinance that prohibits pharmaceutical firms and drugstores from selling contraceptives as this would infringe the right of the business establishments to conduct their business.

The committee also said the contraceptives and family planning methods outlawed by the ordinance is a violation of the equal protection clause guaranteed by the Constitution.

Councilor Labios told the Manila Bulletin/Tempo after the meeting that the barangay ordinance in question “should be in accordance with the law and should be fair to all individuals.”

Mayor San Pedro emphasized that the city government is not fighting with the Ayala Alabang Council regarding the ordinance, a point seconded by Chairman Burgos.

On the other hand, international superstar Lea Salonga, a resident of Ayala Alabang Village and an advocate of the Reproductive Health bill that is pending in Congress, has joined individuals and sectors that are opposing the ordinance.

On her official website, Salonga said she “was instantly outraged” by the barangay ordinance.

“What right, constitutional or otherwise, does another human being, plus an entire barangay, have to what I practice in the privacy of my bedroom? No one has a say in how my husband and I express ourselves sexually, or what contraceptive measures we decide to employ, or not employ. I detest being told what to do, in general… even more so when it comes to something as personal and as private as this,” the Tony award winner said.