PASSING legislations such as the pending bill allowing adolescents to access reproductive health services will help maximize the 10-year old Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law, according to the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom).
On Tuesday, Popcom Officer in Charge-Executive Director (OIC-ED) Lolito R. Tacardon told the BusinessMirror that this will also help further reduce adolescent or teenage pregnancy in the country.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier said that while adolescent births are on the decline, there was still an increase in births to mothers younger than 15 years old.
“There is also a need for affirmative action for marginalized sectors like the poor, those working in informal economy, living in GIDAs [geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas] and IPs [indigenous peoples],” Tacardon told the BusinessMirror. “Social protection for adolescent parents is also something that we are working on.”
Uphill battle
SIGNED into law by the late President Benigno S. Aquino III on December 21, 2012, RA 10345 was considered one of the biggest wins for sexual and reproductive health rights legislation.
The law’s passage was marked by years of struggle, as it faced strong opposition from powerful groups for over a decade. Even after the law’s enactment, it had to surmount legal battles from 2013 to 2017.
“A decade after its enactment, it is everybody’s task to sustain the gains and maintain the momentum of the RH Law. We need to address gaps in policy and implementation and guarantee that the benefits of the law reach especially the most vulnerable women and girls in the country,” said United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Philippines Country Representative Leila Saiji Joudane.
Strong support
OTHER challenges to the full implementation of RH Law include budget and the integration and streamlining of RH activities into a comprehensive set of services local government units can adopt.
The PLCPD stressed that legislators should maximize the fact that public support and demand for RH and family planning remain strong to push for new laws and regulations that address the gaps seen in the implementation of RA 10345.
A public opinion poll conducted in March 2022 revealed that 9 out of 10 Filipinos believe that it is important to have the ability to plan the family and that the government allocates funds for modern family planning methods.
“As we celebrate the victories ushered by the landmark passage of the RH Law, we cannot stop until the promise of SRHR for all is attained. How do we reach that point? By unceasingly working towards addressing gaps in policy and implementation and guarantee that the benefits of the law reach all intended recipients,” Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) Executive Director Romeo C. Dongeto said.
Contraceptive prevalence
DATA from the National Demographic and Health Survey 2022 (2022 NDHS) showed that the modern contraceptive prevalence rate increased from 40.4 percent in 2017 to 41.8 percent in 2022, while the total fertility rate (TFR) and unmet need for family planning (FP) have seen a continuous decrease over the years.
The TFR decreased from 2.7 in 2017 to 1.9 children per woman in 2022 and the unmet need for FP decreased from 17 percent in 2017 to 12 percent in 2022.
Following the success of the RH Law, several landmark legislations were also passed in recent years, significantly contributing to SRHR.
These include the Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act of 2018, the First 1,000 Days Act of 2018, the 105-Day Expanded Maternity Leave Act of 2019, the Safe Streets and Public Spaces Act of 2019, An Act Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage and the Act Increasing the Age to Determine Statutory Rape.