Contact Details

Rm. N-411, House of Representatives, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
+63 2 931 5497, +63 2 931 5001 local 7370

Press Statements

 

  • Rep. Edcel C. Lagman
  • Independent – Albay
  • 30 December 2012
  • 0916-6406737 / 0918-9120137

 

 

RH LAW NOT WATERED DOWN

 

           The RH bill which was elevated by the President to a statute as Republic Act No. 10354 is not watered down because the authors of the measure made sure that it would be delivered and approved without congenital defects.

 

          Only cosmetic and redundant amendments proposed by critics of the bill which did not destroy its essence were accepted and killer amendments were rejected outright and voted down.

 

          The following salient provisions of the RH law are substantially attuned with the pristine formulations:

 

          1. The State is mandated to promote universal access to reproductive health services and family planning, including voluntary contraception, with priority to acceptors from poor and marginalized sectors who shall receive for free RH services and commodities (Section 2 on Declaration of Policy).

 

          2. The hallmark of the RH law is freedom of informed choice which shall not be subject to any form of coercion (Section 3-a of the Guiding Principles for Implementation).

 

         3. Massive nationwide information campaign on reproductive health and rights is assured (Section 20 on Public Awareness).

 

         4. The implementation of the Act shall be the joint responsibility of the national government and the local government units with the latter receiving financial and technical support from the national government (Sections 5, 6, 8, 16 and 20).

 

         5.  The principal elements of RH are intact and enhanced (Section 4-q).

 

         6. Enhancement of services for pregnant women and safe motherhood is assured (Sections 5, 6 and 18).

 

         7. Women suffering from post-abortion complications shall be “treated and counseled in a humane, non-judgmental and compassionate manner” (Section 3-j).

 

         8. Inclusion in the Philippine National Drug Formulary of hormonal contraceptives, intrauterine devices, injectables and other safe, legal, non-abortifacient family planning products and supplies is mandated (Section 9).

 

         9. Mandatory age and development-appropriate reproductive health education is assured for adolescents enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools with the curriculum prepared by the Department of Education adoptable by private schools (Section 14).

 

         10. PhilHealth benefits for serious and life-threatening reproductive health conditions (Section 12).

 

         11. The provisions on prohibited acts and penalties have been retained to assure compliance with the law (Sections 23 and 24).

 

          12 Private health facilities and hospitals are mandated to provide family planning services to paying patients with the option to grant free care and services to indigents (Section 7).

 

         13. Creation of a Congressional Oversight Committee to monitor the faithful compliance with the RA 10354 (Section 22).

 

         14. Funding support is assured in the 2013 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and in the subsequent years’ GAAs. (Section 25).

Press Statements

 

  • Office of Rep. Edcel C. Lagman
  • Independent - Albay
  • 29 December 2012
  • 0916-6406741 / 0918-9120137

 

 

           With the President’s imprimatur on the enrolled copy of the RH bill, the arduous crusade for the enactment of a comprehensive and nationwide reproductive health law is over.

 

          After a 13-year gestation, the RH bill is finally delivered, signed and sealed.

 

          Unlike the rage and controversy which attended the congressional debates and approval of the measure, the bill was signed as Republic Act No. 10354 in the privacy of the President’s study room without the anticipated ceremony in order not to exacerbate the conflict with some Catholic bishops and start the reconciliation process to ensure widespread support in the implementation of the RH law.

 

          The President, with consistent resolve and unwavering zeal, signed the bill into law last Friday, 21 December 2012, the day after he received the enrolled bill.

 

           An enrolled bill is an authentic copy of a legislative measure signed by the Speaker and the Senate President as well as by the Secretary General of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate.

 

           The principal beneficiaries of the RH law are the country’s millions of women and children whose health will be protected and promoted as maternal and infant deaths radically decline as a result of voluntary family planning and contraception by choice.

 

           Women worldwide who have been anticipating the enactment of an RH law in the Philippines rejoice with the vast majority of Filipinos in celebrating the elevation of the bill into a statute.

Press Statements

 

  • Office of Rep. Edcel C. Lagman
  • Independent – Albay
  • 23 December 2012
  • 0916-6406737 / 0918-9120137

 

 

           The best essential gift the government has given to Filipinos this Christmas and the many more Christmases to come is the enactment of the Reproductive Health law.

 

            The RH statute will enable millions of couples and women to be true to their desire of having smaller families as they are empowered to freely and responsibly determine the number and spacing of their children.

 

          Also gifted are mothers and infants since maternal and infant mortality rates will be considerably reduced because high-risk, unwanted and unintended pregnancies, which are most prone to maternal death, abortion and unhealthy offspring, are prevented.

 

             There are currently 14-15 mothers who die daily due to complications arising from pregnancy and childbirth.

 

            The harrowing experience of women who suffer forced abortion because they could not afford another child will be diminished by as much as 85% since they are given access to legal, medically-safe and effective voluntary contraception.

 

            The poor and marginalized sectors will be helped to liberate themselves from the clutches of poverty as they are accorded free and viable family planning methods and contraception by choice to mitigate population growth.

 

         Mass poverty is inextricably linked to high fertility rates, which result to high population growth rates and the stunting of human development.

 

          While the Philippines is the 12th most populous country in the world, its human development index ranking according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a lowly 112th among 187 countries.

 

          The enactment this Yuletide season of the RH bill, which will save countless lives of women and children and assure their better future, is truly symbolic because millennia ago Jesus Christ was born in a manger to save the world.

Press Statements

 

  • Office of Rep. Edcel C. Lagman
  • Independent – Albay
  • 20 December 2012
  • 0916-6406737 / 0918-9120137

 

 

  • 7.5-M ADOLESCENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
  • WILL BE BENEFICIARIES OF RH EDUCATION

 

              The mandatory age and development appropriate reproductive health education among the young as prescribed in the reconciled RH bill will initially benefit no less than 7.5-M adolescents enrolled in grade 6 and high school in public elementary and secondary schools across the country.

 

             This figure represents the present enrollment from the data of the Department of Education (DepEd) which will even be higher once the RH education is implemented next school year.

 

            Adolescents refer to “young people between the ages of ten (10) to nineteen (19) years who are in the transition form childhood to adulthood”, as defined in the bill.

 

             The number of beneficiaries would even increase if RH education would start at an earlier grade than grade 6 because the period of adolescence starts at an age lower than those of 6th graders.

 

             Since the young should not be deprived of RH education just because they are enrolled in private schools, it is expected that many private elementary and secondary schools would opt to teach reproductive health education to equally educate their pupils and students.

 

            The RH bill mandates the DepEd to “formulate a curriculum which shall be used by public schools and may be adopted by private schools.”

 

           Empirical studies conducted by the United Nations and countries where RH education is part of the school curriculum have documented the following beneficent results: 1) proper sexual values are inculcated in the young; 2) entry into sexual relations is delayed; 3) abstinence before marriage is encouraged; 4) multiple sexual partners are avoided; and 5) the spread of sexually transmitted infections is prevented.

Press Statements

 

  • OFFICE OF REP. EDCEL C. LAGMAN
  • 0916 6406737 / 0918 912 0137
  • 9315497
  • 19 December 2012

 

 

 

           The reproductive health bill hurdled the bicameral conference committee retaining the empowerment of women and couples to freely and responsibly determine the number and spacing of their children.

 

         The government is also authorized to promote reproductive health, including voluntary contraception, prioritizing the poor and the marginalized.

 

          The national government and the local government units (LGUs) are jointly responsible for the implementation of the reproductive health law with the LGUs receiving financial and technical assistance from the national government.

 

            Reproductive health and sexuality education is retained with the Department of Education formulating the curriculum for the use of public schools and adaptable to private schools.