THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the government is working double time to fully implement the country’s population and family planning program, which could help cut poverty incidence.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said the government is beefing up efforts to implement measures under the National Program on Population and Family Planning. The NPPFP contains family planning interventions that seek to improve the lives of households.
Pernia said the full and effective implementation of the NPPFP will be crucial in hitting the government’s objective of bringing down poverty incidence to 14 percent by 2022, from 21.6 percent in 2015.
“Family planning interventions will contribute to improved welfare of Filipino families and poverty reduction, as they enable couples to plan and invest in their children better. We aim to reduce poverty incidence to 14 percent by 2022, from 21.6 percent in 2015,” he said in a statement.
One of the steps taken by the Duterte administration toward better family planning is the issuance last December of Executive Order (EO) 71 transferring the Commission on Population (Popcom) to the Neda from the Department of Health (DOH).
The presidential law also renamed the Popcom into the Commission on Population and Development, and promoted the rank of the executive director to the level of undersecretary. In the process, EO 71 also turned CPD employees into development workers, aside from being health personnel.
“It is important to note that the transfer and renaming of the Popcom make CPD staff not only health workers, but also development workers,” Pernia said.
“This dual role means that, besides moving our family planning program faster and more widely, they have to ensure its alignment with the country’s development objectives as spelled out in the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022. They have to be highly motivated, agile and alert,” he added.
Further, EO 71 states the NPPFP must be delivered both by the CPD and the DOH.
The full implementation of the NPPFP was approved by President Duterte during the Cabinet meeting in March. As a major component of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health law, the NPPFP intends to avert unplanned and unwanted pregnancies by enabling couples and individuals to attain their desired number of children within the context of responsible parenthood.