Not known to many, President Fidel V. Ramos was a staunch advocate of reproductive health.

He attended many meetings of supporters of the reproductive health bill, together with his sister, the late Senator Leticia R. Shahani, in designing strategies to facilitate the passage of the then controversial measure.

The reproductive health law, of which Rep. Edcel C. Lagman was the principal author, was enacted in 2012 and was subsequently declared constitutional by the Supreme Court.

FVR delivered speeches and wrote articles urging the enactment of a reproductive health law.

His advocacy for reproductive health started when he appointed Dr. Juan Flavier as Secretary of Health, who was likewise an RH advocate.

The issues of reproductive health and population are integral and imperative components of a development agenda because population, poverty, reproductive health and sustainable human development are so closely interrelated that none of them can be considered in isolation.

Well-funded national programs on family planning and reproductive health are not only pro-woman and pro-poor, they are ultimately pro-life and pro-development.

President Ramos underscored during his term the urgency of progressive family planning and population policies.