PopCom steps up drive on natural family planning

CEBU, Philippines - Commission on Population chief of Technical Services Division Atty. Bruce Ragas said that they are pursuing the implementation of responsible parenthood and natural family planning program in every barangays in Region VII.

This is included in the presidential directive issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that identified responsible parenthood as one of the strategies to counter hunger and poverty in the Hunger Mitigation Program framework.

The president issued on October 10, 2006 a directive on responsible parenthood and natural family planning program, which has a primary policy directive of promoting the natural family planning method, three-year birth spacing and breast feeding that are good for the health of the mother, child, family and community

Ragas said that for this year, a total of P5 million was allocated by the government to PopCom-7 to be transferred to the different local government units.

“Some of the money will be used for the advocacy work but most of the money is used for the training,” said Ragas.

Under the memorandum of agreement, the local chief executives have agreed to implement the responsible parenthood and the natural family planning in all their barangays.

PopCom, in collaboration with the Department of Health, formulate and carry out an aggressive and systematic strategy to promote RP and NFP, which necessitates the formulation of a core plan that involves grassroots campaign to be implemented by the DOH and the LGUs particularly the Barangay Responsible Parenting Team that brings the program closer to the people.

It is also tasked to organize and train Reproductive Parenthood Movement teams at the provincial and municipal levels; provide assistance for RPM trainings at the municipal level; provide the amount of P2, 000.00 per barangay class composed of 10 couples of reproductive age until all targeted couples have been reached in the different barangays in each municipality until 2010; provide augmentation fund for the province/municipality for monitoring and evaluation activities.

The provincial government, on the other hand, shall provide financial counterpart for monitoring and technical assistance to be used for coordinating of RPM and NFP classes, monitor the conduct of classes and ensure that the sessions conducted are in line with the Millennium Development Goal No. 5 (Improve Maternal Health), provide technical assistance to the municipal RPM teams.

For their part, the local government units are tasked to provide financial counterpart for the conduct of municipal classes in terms of travel expense and other materials needed to RPM implementation; continuously sustain barangay RP-NFP classes; ensure that the community health workers in coordination with RPM group leaders perform their assigned tasks; and to provide necessary per diem and travel allowance for municipal RP-NFP training team when needed at the barangay level.   — Johanna T. Natavio/WAB 

   (FREEMAN NEWS)