It has been said that nurses are not only at the heart of healthcare; they have become great blessings to humankind.

In a country where a large number of people live and die without even seeing a doctor, nurses have become the frontliners of the healthcare system. 

Although nurses cannot write out prescriptions, they can be counted on to dispense essential medical care, compassion and genuine care.

I am certain that those of you who have opted to stay in the country all have despairing stories to tell about the state of our healthcare system, what with the migration of trained health professionals to other nations, the lack of funds for basic equipment and medicines in hospitals, and the tremendous increase in the number of people seeking medical help.

But these problems are not unique to the healthcare sector. The education sector is also experiencing similar problems because government simply cannot keep pace with the continuously growing number of enrollees in terms of providing adequate number of classrooms, textbooks, desks and tables and even teachers.

The same is also true for the agricultural sector. It just cannot produce enough to feed the growing multitude of Filipinos. The Philippines’ Population Growth Rate (PGR) of 2.04% outpaces the country’s annual growth in rice production of only 1.9%. The menace of hunger stalks densely populated communities where the family budget for food is spread too thinly with so many mouths to feed.

In the 2008 Global Hunger Index conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Philippines was included in the 33 countries worldwide where the problem of huger and malnutrition is of critical concern.

Certainly, you are fully aware of the relevance of adequate healthcare, quality education and food security to my topic on House Bill No. 5043 or the proposed “Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development Act of 2008”.


We cannot achieve genuine and sustainable human development if we continue to default in addressing the population problem. It is beyond debate that a huge population growth rate impacts adversely on all indicators of human development such as health, education, shelter, food security, employment and the environment. 

Chronic poverty and high population growth rates are inextricably linked. A high PGR all but negates any progress we may achieve in terms of economic growth and cancels out government’s efforts in poverty reduction.

Government can help curb a ballooning population by simply helping women and couples realize their fertility goals. House Bill 5043 will help ensure that women and couples will achieve their desired fertility through the creation of an enabling environment where they will have information on and access to both natural and modern methods of family planning and will have the freedom to decide which method is best suited to their needs, personal convictions and religious beliefs. It is freedom of informed choice, freedom of conscience.


The Philippines has committed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. The noble and ambitious objective of the MDGs is the quantifiable improvement in the lives of people through the achievement of the following human development goals:

1.    Eradication of extreme hunger and poverty;
2.    Achievement of universal primary education;
3.    Promotion of gender equality;
4.    Reduction of infant mortality;
5.    Improvement of maternal health;
6.    Combating HIV-AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis;
7.    Ensuring environmental sustainability; and
8.    Promoting global partnerships for development.

Virtually all of these goals, but especially the goals which pledge elimination of gender-based discrimination; decrease in infant deaths; safe motherhood; and the prevention of the spread of HIV-AIDS, are closely related to reproductive health and family planning which are indispensable in addressing the pressing concerns on rights, health and sustainable human development.

The interrelatedness of reproductive health to the MDGs underscores the urgent need for the passage of HB 5043 that will promote and protect the right of all Filipinos to health and development, more particularly that of women and children.


I have always emphasized that the RH bill is not principally about pills, condoms and IUDs. It is also not about sex and certainly not about religion. It is primarily about the right to health and the right to development.

Reproductive health is a fundamental human right and was affirmed as such in the Proclamation of Tehran during the International Conference on Human Rights 40 years ago in 1968.

The right to reproductive health and family planning was subsequently reiterated in numerous other UN Conventions of which the Philippines is likewise a signatory.


Reproductive health and family planning are indispensable to the promotion of gender equality; safe motherhood; the reduction of maternal and infant deaths; and the drastic decrease in abortion rates.

It is important to underscore that six of the eight MDGs are linked to reproductive health and are encompassed in its elements as enumerated in House Bill 5043.
RH and Goals 4 and 5 on maternal and child health and survival
Reproductive health also includes maternal, infant and child health and nutrition which are crucial to ensuring the health of mothers and infants and in the reduction of maternal and infant mortality.

Family planning is central to maternal and child health because the WHO states that “birth-to-pregnancy (BTP) intervals of six months or shorter are associated with elevated risks of maternal mortality” and “BTP intervals of 18 months or shorter are associated with elevated risk of infant, neonatal and perinatal mortality, low birth weight, small size for gestational age, and pre-term delivery.”

The WHO underscores that 99% of all maternal deaths happen in developing countries like the Philippines. This is why a national policy on reproductive health is crucial in order to drastically lower maternal mortality rates in the country.

The worst inequity is maternal death. The miracle of life should not result in the death of a woman. Although pregnancy is not a disease, it is ironic that 500,000 women die annually worldwide of causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In the Philippines, 10 women die daily of such causes.

HB 5043 is also very clearly anti-abortion. Its objective is to ensure that women and couples have access to all methods of family planning in order to prevent unplanned pregnancies. According to the 2003 NDHS, 44.3% of all pregnancies in the country are unplanned principally because of the lack of information on and access to family planning services. It is for this reason that the incidence of induced abortion in this country is 500,000 annually.

Contraceptive use and abortion have an inverse correlation. The more women use effective contraception, the less likely they have unwanted pregnancies that will be terminated through abortion. Research by the Guttmacher Institute also reveals that the use of contraceptives can reduce abortion rates by 85%.


In the Philippines, childcare is still considered primarily the role of mothers and/or older sisters. Therefore, it is not uncommon for girls to drop out of school because they are forced to care for siblings as the family continues to expand. Family planning, as an essential element of reproductive health, will help ensure gender parity in school and foreclose this inequity being foisted on girls.

Another element of RH is the elimination of violence against women which will not only promote the basic human right to live a life free of violence but is also central to achieving gender equality.

Moreover, family planning will lead to bigger investments in health and education, improved quality of childcare and more educational and employment opportunities for women. All these will go a long way in achieving Goal 2 on universal primary education and Goal 3 on promoting gender equality.


Still another element of reproductive health is the prevention of HIV-AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Renewed efforts to curb the spread of HIV-AIDS and other STDs as advocated in the RH bill will help government achieve part of Goal No. 6 on combating HIV-AIDS.

Slower population growth through family planning will also relieve the strain that a burgeoning population exerts on an environment increasingly threatened by human activity and will help us attain Goal No. 7 on environmental sustainability.


Guaranteeing the right of women and couples to reproductive self-determination through the family planning method of their choice will also ultimately help government achieve Goal No. 1 on the eradication of hunger and poverty.

A decline in fertility rates will help open a demographic window of economic opportunity similar to what happened in South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. With fewer dependent children relative to the working-age population, these countries made additional investments on health, education, food security and other basic social services which spurred economic growth and helped reduce poverty.

Clearly, by promoting and protecting the right to reproductive health, government would have a better chance of achieving the MDGs, specifically the goals pertaining to the alleviation of hunger and poverty; improved access to primary education; better health for mothers; reduction of infant deaths; holding back the spread of HIV-AIDS; and the preservation of our fragile environment.


The empirical nexus between reproductive health and sustainable human development is consistently and clearly established.

According to the UN State of the World Population Report 2002, “family planning and reproductive health are essential to reducing poverty”. The report declares that “countries that invest in reproductive health and family planning and in women's development register slower population growth and faster economic growth”.

The annual UN Human Development Studies also show that countries with higher population growth will invariably score lower on important aspects of human development such as income, physical and emotional well-being, life expectancy, literacy and employment.

Last year, the Philippines, as the 12th most populous country, ranked No. 84 out 171 countries in the Human Development Index rankings made annually by the United Nations. This year, we are down to No. 90. Among Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines fared the worst in the latest rankings. Singapore remained in the 25th slot, Indonesia improved by 1 rank and Vietnam and Brunei each improved their position by four levels. But while Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia all slipped two ranks and Thailand fell down by four slots, the Philippines went down by six points.

In a recent study of poverty and its causes in the Philippines, the Asian Development Bank listed an expanding population is one of the major causes of poverty in the country.

Data from the NSO for over a decade demonstrates that there is indeed greater incidence of poverty in larger families. Large families are prone to poverty with 57.3% of Filipino families with seven children mired in poverty while only 23.8% of families having two children live below the poverty threshold.

It should be emphasized that any poverty reduction program that would be undertaken by government must include the reduction of our population growth rate for it to be effective and sensible.

A clear, comprehensive and rights-based policy on reproductive health like House Bill 5043 is just as important to the attainment of sustainable human development as good governance, the eradication of graft and corruption and the redistribution of wealth in the country.


Despite the intensified black propaganda launched against RH bill, it now has 113 coauthors in the House of Representatives.

Notwithstanding the all-out opposition of some members of the Catholic Church hierarchy, House Bill 5043 is now in the period of plenary debate. This is the farthest any bill of this nature has reached since similar measures were filed in 2001.

Public support for the bill is also overwhelming. Just last week the SWS released its 3rd Quarter Social Weather Survey that revealed that 71% of Filipinos support the passage of the RH bill and 76% approve of the teaching of family planning to the youth.

This survey only confirms what opinion polls for the past two decades have been telling policymakers – Filipinos approve of family planning and want an RH law to be enacted. They are also telling lawmakers that religion is not a factor in their family planning decisions because according to the SWS survey, 71% of Catholics are in favor of the bill compared to 68% of non-Catholics.

The bill has likewise received tremendous multi-sectoral support from groups as varied as scientists, professors from UP and Ateneo, and religious organizations such as the Iglesia ni Cristo and Jesus is Lord Movement to labor unions and employers’ associations, human rights groups and medical associations like the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, and the vast NGO community.

Indeed, support for the RH bill transcends professions, social class, political orientation and religious affiliations. 


Pills and condoms may be available in drugstores but their being physically available does not mean that they are accessible to the women and couples who want and need them most.

This is also true for those who want to utilize natural family planning methods. Women and couples who opt for NFP must be properly trained and provided with modules to help them correctly utilize their method of choice.

As healthcare providers, I am certain you fully recognize the importance of family planning to the health and wellbeing of women and children. The WHO, UNFPA and the medical journal Lancet are unanimous in asserting that correct and consistent use of contraceptives can help prevent one-third of maternal deaths. Studies conducted by the WHO also conclude that proper birth spacing reduces the risk of death for newborns and infants by 50%.

We need to institutionalize by statute a national policy on RH and population development because it will ensure that despite regular changes in national and local leadership, women and couples will always receive relevant information and have access to family planning services.

HB 5043 will benefit the millions of Filipino women who want to plan their families and meet their fertility goals. According to the 2003 National Demographic and Health Survey, the poorer the woman, the larger the gap is between her wanted and actual fertility. The poorest women still have an average of 6.5 children while the richest women consistently meet their fertility goal of 2.5.

The 2006 Family Planning Survey results also show that among the poorest women who want to avoid another pregnancy, at least 41% do not use any contraceptive method because they lack information on and access to family planning methods.

Finally, the bill is practicable because its primary beneficiaries have made it clear in surveys conducted over a period of almost 20 years that they approve of contraceptive use and want to be able to responsibly plan their families.

The support of a professional group as well respected as the PNA will be invaluable in our crusade for the enactment of the reproductive health bill. Majority of you are women and mothers and I know that in your hearts you realize that this bill is necessary and will benefit millions of women and children.

You are in a profession that is in the vocation of saving lives. Please help our legislators enact a bill that will truly be responsive to the health needs of Filipinos by taking a stand and supporting the RH bill because it is pro-poor and pro-women and because ultimately, family planning does save lives.