QC and Manila: What a difference a local ordinance can make in the lives of women (Part 1)

POSTED ON SexandSensibilities.com, 26 OCT. 2010

Links:
YouTube: Interview with Dr. Alberto Romualdez - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isNYB-Cv7-o
Original post on SAS: http://sexandsensibilities.com/2010/10/26/qc-and-manila-what-a-difference-a-
local-ordinance-can-make-in-the-lives-of-women/

Every August, the Department of Health celebrates Family Planning Month. This year (2010) the theme
was: “May plano ako. Kaya mo ring magplano.” (I have a plan. You can plan, too.)

The theme was centered on the attainment of a better quality of life for mother, father, and the family
as a whole.

How did the city of Manila, under Executive Order 003 which “encourages only natural family planning
methods” filed by former Mayor Lito Atienza, celebrate family planning?

Under Executive Order 003, all local government unit (LGU) run health clinics and hospitals like the
Ospital ng Manila, do not offer forms of modern contraception. Other services such as tubal ligation and
vasectomy are also not available.

How would one celebrate family planning month under such conditions?

Sex and Sensibilities (SAS) and fellow RH advocate Carlos Celdran decided to celebrate by throwing a
family planning party where the women in the City of Manila could sit down with a health care
professional and avail of the full range of pills, injectables and condoms for free – APART from the
natural family planning methods supported by the local government.

At the end of their consultation, the moms and their kids would get a free snack, juice and a loot bag.

The idea became much bigger than just providing merienda for the moms. Other RH supporters pledged
to donate money (in response to Carlos Celdran’s blog post about the event) and NGOs pledged their
support and resources.

There was going to be an inflatable playground so the moms would not have to worry about looking
after their children while being checked by a health care provider. There were going to be loot bags,
games and even a free kilo of rice.

All of this was going to be provided for free to the moms. All they had to do was come.

It started to look like a big party, one the required a bigger venue – and permission from the office of
the Mayor or the Vice-Mayor.
Dr. Alberto “Quasi” Romualdez, former DOH Secretary and now one of the executive officers of Forum
for Family Planning and Development penned a short note on the formal letter to Vice-Mayor Isko
Moreno, endorsing the request.

Weeks later, a letter from the Barangay Bureau came. The family planning party was turned down.

The reason cited that the city of Manila would not shell out
a single centavo for family planning efforts.

Poor women suffer the most

“Well, it seems to me that because of long-standing city

policies, there have developed within the bureaucracy in
the city of Manila, including the city health department, a
core resistance to providing artificial family planning
services,” said Romualdez .

“That is to the detriment, actually, of the poor people of

Manila. As we all know, the policy of the city of Manila does
not affect any of the population except those who live in
slums who have no access to information and services,”
added Romualdez.

A request for interview was made to Mayor Lim to

comment on the issue, but the request was referred to the
Manila Health Office instead. Calls and text messages to Vice Mayor Isko Moreno were unanswered.

Dr. Gina Pardilla, Chief of the Planning office under the Manila Health Department says that the services
of Manila should be looked at from a comprehensive offering.

“All the services are provided for free – birthing, immunization, pre- and post-natal care — except those
that have to do with making them act as responsible parents,” said Pardilla. “Paying for your own choice
[of family planning method] takes on a responsibility angle. A meager P20 cost of some of the methods
is nothing compared to the cost of the free services that we offer like pre- and post-natal care,
immunization.”

Citing the other non-government organizations in Manila that offer these family planning services for
free, Pardilla said that “the access part is not a problem.”

“We allow other organizations to give these services, but we cannot spend our meager funds on this
*modern forms of contraception+”.

The contents of the letter from the Manila Barangay Bureau, declining the Family Planning Party
sponsored by Sex and Sensibilities, were shared with Dr. Pardilla.

Pardilla declined to comment on the letter. “I cannot speak for Ms. Buan (chairperson of Manila
Barangay Bureau, who was also the signatory of the decline letter), you will have to ask her about the
Bureau’s reasons for declining that event, since I do not know what transpired.”
“The EO does not ban anything, it only discourages and encourages natural family planning,” explained
Pardilla who says that the city of Manila has again been “wrongly highlighted”.

On the other side of the RH fence

In Quezon City, there is a different perspective on

family planning.

“If you do not offer it for free, they will not avail of
modern contraceptive methods. They will not be
able to afford it,” said Dr. Mike Marasigan, Medical
Officer III at the San Francisco “Frisco” Lying-in and
Reproductive Health Clinic.

A full range of family planning services including

pills, condoms, IUDs, and injectables are provided
for free. Education on natural family planning
methods is also available at a patient’s request.
“There are those who will still want to try natural family planning methods. But this requires a level of
literacy and understanding – like when it comes to taking your temperature,” said Marasigan.

The inventory of supplies of the Frisco Lying in and Reproductive Health Center includes IUD, injectables,
pills (brand name shown is Lady) and condoms (brand shown is Trust). Expiry dates of each product are
highlighted for easy reference. These are all given for free after the patient has been counseled about
proper use, maintenance and
possible side effects.

(Click here to see photos of the San

Francisco “Frisco” Lying-in and
Reproductive Health Clinic.)

At the Frisco Clinic, they sometimes

even designate one day as
“vasectomy” day where men can
come in and get a free vasectomy.
“Otherwise, they would have to
come and schedule it. Setting aside
a day and then informing people in
advance of it, allows the men to
drop by for a vasectomy, which is
actually a simple procedure which
doesn’t take very long,” explained
Dr. Rico Tongos, Medical Officer III.

Quezon City, since the time of Mayor Sonny Belmonte, already offered a comprehensive range of family
planning services. It was in 2008 that City Ordinance No. 1829 establishing a Quezon City Population and
Reproductive Health Management Policy was passed, institutionalizing RH programs and their budget
appropriation.

Councilor Joseph Juico, who was a principal author and one of the prime movers of the ordinance, said
“It was not an easy task to pass this ordinance. It took more than 7 months to pass the ordinance
whereas a normal one would just take only over a month.”

Juico also faced opposition from the Church who labeled him a “spawn of Satan” and even hinted at
excommunication. “We had dialogues with the religious sector and eventually, we were able to get the
ordinance passed.”

Expounding on the matter, Jucio said, “Usually when somebody’s pregnant, they’re happy but when you
see a poor mother with her fifth pregnancy, she doesn’t look like a happy mother at all. The lack of
information, the lack of knowledge, that’s one thing we’re trying to address here. That’s it. If they want
to avail of the services, then we’ll give it to them. If they don’t want to, then that’s okay, too, but what
we’re after is for them to have informed choices.”

It seems that Quezon City is so bent on celebrating family planning and the better quality of life that it
offers mothers, father and their children not just during the month of August, but all year round.

What was the impact of the various RH policies in Quezon City and Manila? Part 2 of this series aims to
answer that question.

This three part series is produced under a media fellowship grant awarded to Sex and Sensibilities.com by
the Probe Media Foundation.

One Response to “QC and Manila: What a difference a local ordinance can make in the lives of
women”

Loretta Ann P. Rosales, 31 OCTOBER 2010 AT 2:58 PM #

When I was a member of the House of Representatives as Akbayan representative, we made it a point to
lead in the campaign to have the House bill on reproductive health care passed. It was an uphill battle
but we put the issue in full attention of the public. Responsible local executives – who knew that poverty
and population growth were directly related – decided to come up with local ordinances supporting the
policy of reproductive rights and health care. This is a trend that can no longer be stopped. What matters
is to put on local public debate obstacles such as EO 003 and get the community women to make their
comments on the matter. Etta P. Rosales