MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the intensified implementation of the National Program on Family Planning in the country, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.
The program, which was presented by Socioeconomic Planning secretary Ernesto Pernia and Executive Director of the Commission on Population and Development Juan Antonio Perez III, will provide modern contraceptives to 11.3 million women.
“The approval of the aforesaid plan is expected to reduce poverty incidence in the country, which currently has the highest fertility rate and fastest growing population in the ASEAN region, from the current 20 percent to 14 percent in 2022,” Panelo said in a statement.
He added: “The plan equally aims to promote better health and socioeconomic development among Filipinos. We understand that a great majority of Filipinos favor family planning but not all of them have access to contraceptives.”
Panelo also said the program aims is to increase the usage of modern contraceptives from 40 percent to 65 percent to prevent 4 million unintended pregnancies and 2 million cases of abortion.
“The key strategy is the use of effective modern contraceptives,” the Palace official said. “The government is ready to respond and help those who wish to undergo family planning.”
Duterte signed in 2017 an executive order intensifying access to modern family planning despite Supreme Court temporary restraining order on some provisions of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act./PN
