EMPHASIS-RH

POPULATION CONTROL AGENDA, NOT RH BILL IS ANTI-POOR, ANTI-WOMEN

MANILA, Feb. 20, 2012 – In a statement released Saturday, Gabriela party list admitted that the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, pending in both chambers of Congress, is neither pro-poor nor pro-women. “The RH bill cannot be genuinely pro-poor and pro-women for as long as it espouses population control, which blames poverty on women’s bodies, fertility and population” Gabriela stated in its Facebook page. This development took place after renewed interest in dialogues surfaced following Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle expressed his personal view that he is open to the possibility of discussing RH with government representatives as long as a true spirit of dialogue will guide the discussions. “Ako naman, ito personal [opinion] ko na ito, not CBCP. Kung may opportunities pa for study and dialogue, sana nga matuloy pa,” the prelate said in a news conference last week.

Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan expressed interest particularly in the issue of maternal deaths stating, “The DOH reports 50 maternal deaths were recorded in Metro Manila in January alone.

This prompts us to resume deliberations and pass the RH bill without delay.”

However, this is in stark contrast to ‘11 maternal deaths per day’ which was the basis of RH advocates’ call to push the bill to address maternal deaths.

The party list group admitted its preference for the removal of population control provisions in the legislative measure. According to Ilagan, “the population control provision defeats the objective of creating a health-based, rights-based RH policy.”

The solon further expressed the urgent need to address maternal health care.

“Women, especially those in poor, far-flung communities need access to reproductive health care services ranging form maternal care, pre-natal care and post-natal care as well as menopausal care that go beyond the distribution of contraceptives and population control mechanisms.” (CBCP for Life)

GWP TO CBCP: POPULATION CONTROL AGENDA, NOT RH BILL IS ANTI-POOR, ANTI-WOMEN

February 21, 2012

In the interest of fairness and accuracy we hope that the "CBCP for Life" will find space for this clarificatory statement in response to an article which appeared in the "CBCP for Life" website on February 20, 2012. The undersigned was quoted out of context thus making it appear that Gabriela, a primary author and advocate for the RH bill supposedly admits that the RH bill is not pro-poor and pro-women.

Gabriela Women’s Party has long advocated for a national reproductive health policy that will guarantee marginalized women’s full access to comprehensive maternal and reproductive healthcare.

The consolidated RH bill currently contains several provisions that will help ensure poor women and children’s access to healthcare, such as the following:

§ Mobile health clinics that will ensure the delivery of health services to far-flung communities and barangays.

§ Improvement and upgrade of equipment available in public health care facilities, including barangay health centers to ensure that they are able to conduct basic reproductive health care procedures such as pap smears.

§ Pro-bono reproductive health care services for indigent women by making it mandatory for all health care workers to provide at least 48 hours annually of reproductive health services free of charge to indigent patients, especially pregnant adolescents.

However, the RH Bill currently contains three provisions pertaining to population control:

§ Section 2, Guiding Principles, (l): The limited resources of the country cannot be suffered to be spread so thinly to service a burgeoning multitude that makes the allocations grossly inadequate and effectively meaningless;

§ Section 12, Integration of Responsible Parenthood and Family Planning Component in Anti-Poverty Programs; and

§ Section 25, Implementing Mechanism, where the Population Commission, rather than the DOH per se, is mandated to serve as the coordinating body in the implementation of this bill.

Gabriela Women's Party believes the RH bill’s provisions on population control will overshadow its pro-poor provisions and threatens to effectively confine the delivery of reproductive and maternal health care services to the implementation of population control programs, the distribution of contraceptives and population control mechanisms.

Moreover, the population control aspects of the RH bill conveniently blame poverty on women’s bodies, fertility and population while disregarding the impact of social inequities and neo-liberal policies on the country’s growing hunger and poverty.

Gabriela Women’s Party remains firm in its position against population control. It will continue to push for amendments to the bill, including the removal of provisions pertaining to population control.

Gabriela Women’s Party will continue to fight for full women’s access to healthcare and fight not just for the retention of the pro-poor provisions in the RH bill but will also fight for increased budgetary allocation for healthcare as well as the granting of increased maternity benefits for women workers, among others.

Lastly, it is our fervent hope that the Catholic hierarchy, with its preferential option for the poor, will join us in the struggle for genuine reforms to help uplift the lives of poor Filipino women and their families.

Respectfully,

REP. LUZ C. ILAGAN

(Sent to CBCP for Life, 470 Gen. Luna St., Intramuros 1002 Manila, Philippines / cbcp4life@gmail.com / on 21 February 2012)

image source: juanalily.wordpress.com

Posted in: ANTI-WOMEN,NOT RH BILL IS ANTI-POOR,POPULATION CONTROL AGENDA

Church's ban on contraception starves families and damages ecosystem

As the battle over contraception coverage raged in our national debate last week, a small report on "PBS NewsHour" demonstrated the devastating effects that the Catholic church's ban on contraception has on poor nations.

The report was part of a series called "Food for 9 Billion," which considers food security in the face of a surging global birth rate. Reporter Sam Eaton's story intended to spotlight food insecurity and population growth in the Philippines. But he also offered an invaluable commentary on the human and ecological toll of hierarchy's rigid stance on contraception.

In the United States, the renewed debate over contraception is mostly a battle of ideologies, but in the Philippines, fighting the church's ban on contraception is a battle between life and death.

Today, the Philippines has a population of almost 100 million. By 2080, demographers predict that this number could swell to 200 million.

Tragically, most of these new generations of Filipinos will be born into cycle of poverty that is nearly impossible to break. They will live in slums, picking among garbage to find items to sell. If they are lucky, they will have one small meal of rice to eat everyday.

Most Filipino diets consist of rice and fish. According to the World Bank, every major species of fish in the waters of the Philippines shows signs of severe overfishing.

It isn't greed that is causing the over-fishing, but the desperation of starving families. As Eaton shows, some are going to extreme measures, like using dynamite or cyanide, to find and kill the fish. The effect on the reefs of fishing villages has been devastating.

Although volunteers are cracking down on these practices, most fishermen understand that, even in the best conditions, the ocean simply cannot provide for this surging demand.

Back in the cities, slums grow increasingly overcrowded and families stand in line for more than 12 hours to receive a government assistance check. One sister I spoke to who oversees a Filipino soup kitchen told me they must limit their guests to street children, the elderly and homeless people with severe disabilities.

Many government officials know that the only solution to this mounting crisis is to curb population growth through the availability of birth control. Unfortunately, for poor families, a pack of condoms costs as much as a weekly food bill. For the past decade, some leaders have tried to pass a reproductive health bill in congress that would provide birth control pills and condoms for couples in need.

In a city like Manila, where the maternity wards are so full that new mothers have to share one bed with two other patients, the bill would give Filipino women the tools they need to choose their family size.

But in the deeply Catholic Philippines, church leaders still hold sway over politics. The president of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino III, has been threatened with excommunication for his support of the bill.

"That's why I say don't fool with the church. Because she will bury you," Filipino Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz told Eaton in an interview. The archbishop wears a clean, pressed white shirt. He sits in a comfortable residence and looks well fed.

"From contraception, abortion comes. It's just one step below," the archbishop insists.

But in an interview with the BBC in December, Aquino appealed to his faith to support his decision.

"We're taught that when you come before the Almighty, you will be asked: 'What have you done to the least of your brethren?'" he said. "I cannot in good conscience say we saw the problem and we refused to see it, we refused to talk about it, we refused to hear it. That would be criminal, against the oath that I subscribe to. That would be against the teachings of the church I belong to."

But church officials have found a sympathetic ear among some government leaders. Boxer Manny Pacquiao, who was recently elected to the Filipino parliament, has sided with church. His rationale? If his parents had used birth control, he would not have gone on to become the world welterweight champion.

According to an official document issued by the House of Representatives in the Philippines, Pacquiao has a net worth of approximately $26 million.

"God said go forth and multiply," he said after a meeting with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, according to The Telegraph. "He did not say go and have just one or two children."

But for Filipino families who do have access to birth control, having one or two children seems to be bearing a different kind of fruit: three meals a day, financial stability and better opportunities for education.

Some smaller villages have benefited from a program run by the PATH Foundation Philippines, Inc. This community-based family-planning program, funded mostly by USAID, makes birth control accessible and affordable by allowing couples to purchase the pill for as little as 70 cents a month.

The program is popular among parents who remember starving as children with eight and 10 siblings. Crisna Bostero, who participates in the PATH program, said, "We would only eat once a day because we were so poor. We couldn't go to school. I did not finish my school because there were just so many of us."

Because of PATH, she and her husband, Jason, were able to choose to have two children. They can provide three meals a day and send their children to school. The program enables them to be stewards not only of their sexual health, but of their environment, too. Jason and his neighbors have created a marine sanctuary to aid in reviving the fish stocks.

According to Eaton's report, "A recent study by the Guttmacher Institute found that the cost of providing birth control to the quarter-billion women on the planet who want it -- but don't have access to it -- is about $4.50 a year, per person. But it could mean having 8 billion mouths to feed by the end of the century, instead of 15 billion."

But Cruz believes Filipinos should focus on food production, not family size.

"Which would you prefer: to have less mouths to feed or to have more food to eat?" he asked in an interview with Eaton.

In the Philippines, however, the demand for rice is expected to rise by at least 50 percent in the next few years. Increasing food production will only be possible through a bioengineered rice strain, a breakthrough scientists say is decades away. At the same time, farmland throughout the Philippines is being lost to new highway and industrial park projects.

Attempts at meeting these swelling demands for food mean certain doom for the country's already compromised ecosystem.

It seems an imminent humanitarian and ecological disaster is not enough to transform the hearts of the Filipino hierarchy. Even the new Filipino Archbishop, Luis Antonio Tagle, whom NCR's John Allen recently characterized as "a guitar-playing cleric who eschews clerical garb and takes public transportation," opposes the contraception bill.

Although Tagle has been lauded for his humility and seeming solidarity with the Filipino people, he clearly refuses to hear their voices. According to a 2011 poll by Social Weather Stations, a local Filipino social research institution, 82 percent of Filipinos say family planning is a personal decision of couples that no one should interfere with. Sixty-eight percent believe that the government should fund both natural and artificial means of family planning.

As the debate in the United States continues over the rights of the church to be exempt from providing government-mandated contraceptive care to employees, it's remarkable to see that even in a country filled with church-going, deeply faithful Catholics, the hierarchy's rules on contraception are overwhelmingly viewed as a matter of individual conscience.

source: ncronline.org

Posted in: Church's ban on contraception starves families and damages ecosystem

Reform good for Church and State

Reform of the Church is the subject of an award-winning book, As It Was in the Beginning: the Coming Democratization of the Catholic Church (New York: Crossroad Publishing Co., 2007), by Robert McClory, a former theologian-church historian and currently professor emeritus of journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago. His thesis is that the early church was actually democratic, participative and listening-to-the-laity and not the centralized, hierarchical and autocratic institution that it is today; reform merely entails that the church revert to what Jesus Christ himself intended it to be.

Several biblical passages substantiate the belief that Christ wanted the church to be non-authoritarian, consultative, and compassionate. He told his apostles and disciples to be servant leaders: "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all" (Mark 10:43-45).

Such apparently was the paradigm that guided the early church. Thus, Cyprian, bishop of Carthage in North Africa (248-258) -- whose leadership style was also that of then Pope Cornelius in Rome -- writing to his impatient clergy, says: "I can make no reply on my own, for it has been a resolve of mine… to do nothing on my own private judgment without your counsel and the consent of the people"(McClory, p. 42).

Subsequently, under Emperor Constantine in 313, there was the great controversy about which was the correct creed: whether Jesus is of the same (Nicene) or similar (Arian) substance as God. After years of protracted and bitter debates and despite the weight of virtually the entire hierarchy that mostly favored the Arian belief, the Nicene creed was upheld at the Council of Constantinople in 381. But this could not have happened if not for the predominant majority of the laity who would not yield otherwise, according to On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine by John Henry Newman, arguably the most influential theologian in the 19th century. Newman contends that it is a big mistake when decisions on matters of doctrine, even dogmas, are arrived at without regard to the sense or even agreement of the faithful.

The practice of consulting the "sense of the faithful" or of taking seriously the old Roman adage, "What touches all must be approved by all," was largely followed in the first millennium. A major shift occurred at the start of the second millennium with Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085), the central figure of Gregorian Reform, according to McClory, that set the church on a different path (reinforced by Pope Pius X’s (1903-1914) Oath Against Modernism) that extends to today.

Notes McClory: "Most history books find the origins of modern democracy in the writings of 17th century philosophers John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. Their contributions were indeed significant, but there is clear evidence that the origins of these modern ideas can be found in the insights if the Catholic decretists and canonists some 400 years earlier" (p. 71). He then quotes Brian Tierney, the prolific historian of the medieval world: "The practices of representation and consent that characterize secular constitutional government are not alien to the tradition of the church. And if in the future the church should choose to adopt such practices to meet its own needs in a changing world, that would not be a revolutionary departure but a recovery of a lost part of the church’s own early tradition" (p. 71).

An attempt at such a recovery was made with the aggiornamento of Pope John XXIII (1958-1965) under Vatican Council II to bring back the church’s early tradition of openness, servant leadership, participation of and consultation with the laity. But this fell by the wayside with his untimely demise seven years later. Thus, in the third millennium, the Catholic Church appears to be where it was around the start of the second millennium.

The Church today remains top-down, authoritarian, and dismissive of the voice of the laity. This is particularly so in the Philippines where the laity (especially the older generations) prefer to stay silent and be seen as submissive to Church authority. A case in point is reproductive health/family planning which the dominant majority of Filipinos have consistently favored, albeit anonymously, via repeated surveys but would rather be mum about it in public. Similarly, as regards the pending divorce bill that would also benefit the poor who have difficulty obtaining annulment that nonetheless can easily be resorted to by the rich. Still another important example is clergy sex abuse which is widely condemned but is kept under wraps by the "culture of silence" in deference to Church authorities (which, incidentally, helps in the cover-up), as well as the "culture of shame" to protect one’s honor and dignity, according to Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle at a recent conference in Rome. Further, the Church often infringes into territory outside its competence, such as judicial TROs on economic and political concerns, or the issue of mining, stem cell research and bioengineering.

The Church, moreover, appears to give much importance to external rites or religious services that seem to be taken by many as a convenient make-up for failings in secular morality or plain upright conduct. McClory says: "Although Jesus does not condemn Mosaic law, he goes out of his way to show his disdain for those who keep the outward aspects of the law but have no regard for its internal meaning" (p. 23). Said Christ: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matthew 23:27-28).

It turns out that the kinds of reforms required of the Church apply virtually equally to the State. For, participation, openness, accountability, and servant leadership constitute after all the very essence of true democracy. For instance, in the case of the judicial system -- akin to the Church’s emphasis on rituals -- too much importance is given to form, procedure and technicality such that the substance or internal meaning of the law (which is supposed to serve the people and not vice-versa) gets lost. This is poignantly exemplified by the tedious, often frustrating proceedings in the impeachment trial of CJ Renato C. Corona. Not to mention the hypocrisy that surfaces in bold relief and resonates with the "whitewashed tombs."

Sans structural reforms, the Church will likely continue to alienate its faithful as it drifts towards irrelevance, while the State watches idly the economy missing its development potential.

Ernesto M. Pernia is a research fellow of the Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis and a Professor at the UP School of Economics. For comments and idea.introspective@gmail.com.

source: www.bworldonline.com

Posted in: Reform good for Church and State

3rd Year End Kapihan

The 3rd Year -end Kapihan, held on March 2, 2012 at the Quezon City Sports Club marked the midterm of EMPHASIS-RH. Highlights of the program were:

o Accomplishment Report

o Barangay sharing of best practices

o Testimonials from beneficiaries

o Year 4 Action Planning

The presentation of the Year 3 Accomplishment Report showed how each project activity fared in relation to its Year 5 target. Twenty-seven (27) indicators out of thirty-three (33) were achieved by a rating of 100% or more. The remaining six (6) were on target for Year 3. The accomplishments included an additional output which was not included in the log frame but which the Project Team deemed necessary for sustainability of the program in the communities. This was the MOU with CHOs and MHO for the sharing of data, referral system and enhancement of the barangay health surveillance system.

Barangay San Dionisio, Paranaque City won the Early Bird Award for arriving at the venue at 6:30 am.

Eleven (11) barangays shared their EMPHASIS-RH- related best practices, while one (1) presented the community health program and their achievements. ( WHCF gave three Best Practice Awards based on the following criteria:

 SRHR-centeredness

 Innovativeness

 Sustainability

 Community Participation

Award Prizes:

First Place: P5000

Second Place: P3000

Third Place: P2000

Judges: Dr. Rebecca M. Ramos

Dr. Marita V. T. Reyes

Dr. Helen A. de Guzman

Awardees:

First Prize : Barangay Manggahan, Pasig City

Presenter: Kagawad Quin A. Cruz

Practice: Barangay Council Resolution No. 03, Series 2010 creating the Gender and Development Council and GAD mainstreaming in Barangay Manggahan, amended in 2011 to actively respond to Pasig City’s efforts to promote GAD advocacies, review GAD budget

in relation to gender mainstreaming efforts and explore possible partnerships and collaboration with non-government organizations, development institutions and private sector for resource generation initiatives.

Implementation of Kariton, Klassrum, Kantin at Klinika

Support for varied activities including a Buntis

Congress, VAWC Seminar, GAD Awareness Parade

Libreng PapSmear

Second Prize: Barangay Bagong Nayon, Antipolo City

Presenter: Kagawad Rosalinda Rivera

Practice: Passage of a Resolution Creating the Barangay RHR Council and Budget in support of its activities.

Third Prize: Barangay Malanday, Marikina City

Presenter: Barangay Chairman Joseph P. Briones

Practice: Barangay in full support of the activities of EMPHASIS-RH

including linking livelihood training and entrepreneurship to

reproductive health with focus on family planning, provision of initial capital (budgeted from an initial P500,000 to the present P1M) graduates of the livelihood training – to be paid without interest while a corresponding amount goes to personal savings, establishment of a functioning Women's Desk and shelter for women survivors of violence.

Testimonials on the benefits derived from the EMPHASIS-RH program were presented by video. These “put faces to the numbers” which were reported as accomplishments of EMPHASIS-RH.

Finally, the communities drafted their respective Action Plans for Year 4

to synchronize with the general EMPHASIS-RH Action Plan. The Project Team will conduct mini-kapihans to discuss these plans in detail with each community in the succeeding months.

Multi-media coverage by major television networks and several print media maximized visibility for the EUROPEAN UNION showing its contribution to the national development of the Philippines through its support for EMPHASIS-RH.

Media Report submitted by Media Coordinator:

Radio releases [March 2, 2012] 10 am – 1pm dzAR, dame, dwIZ, 4-9 pm dzBB of GMA7, dzMM of ABS CBN and dzRH, dzIQ

TV Releases [ Mar 2-3] GMA newstv, NBN4, NET25 and GMA7.

POST 3RD Year-end KAPIHAN ASSESSMENT

Objectives of the 3rd Year End Kapihan:

1. To surface best practices in the communities

2. To provide maximum visibility of EMPHASIS-RH and the role of EU

3. To provide venue for sharing of experiences and accomplishments

4. To plan for Year 4

Strengths:

1. There was loud cheering from the volunteers during the presentation of the accomplishments.

2. Many were impressed with the testimonials.

3. Strong media presence

4. 11 out of 12 of the barangays came on time. One, San Dionisio, Paranaque, even arrived as early as 6:30 a.m.

5. All except Gulod and UP Campus presented positive impact of EMPHASIS RH on the community, especially in supporting community health programs with focus on Gender and RH

6. Most significant participation came from Malanday, Manggahan and Bagong Nayon.

7. 3 barangay chairpersons were present ( Malanday, NBBS, San Pedro)

8. CHOs from Manila (Dr. Evangelina Rafanan), QC (Dr. Inumerable) and Paranaque representative (Dr. Dionisio Sapio) came. Barangay doctor from Malanday (Dr. Reyes) participated. Other CHOs/MHO sent their respected representatives (11).

9. 100% attendance of associate barangays with representation from their respective LGOs and health offices. No. of LGOs present: 18 kagawads, 3 barangay chairpersons

Points for improvement:

1. Check facilities (sound system, screen, table capacity and seating arrangement). Seating arrangement should be according to barangay (including health)

2. Clarify the role of the CHOs/MHO re: connection with barangay health workers

3. Include health officials in the program: which aspect of the EMPHASIS-RH do they want to replicate in other barangays.

4. Provide template for barangay reporting: which aspect of EMPHASIS RH was most helpful

5. Reformat program itself : Q & A forum

6. Year 3 ended on a positive note. Accomplishments were on or above target. Year 4 should focus on sustainability and on the quality of results.