DOH chief: RH bill not watered down

MANILA, Philippines - Health Secretary Enrique Ona said yesterday that the new Reproductive Health (RH) bill presented by the House leadership recently is not a “watered down version.”

“The original Lagman bill was very specific so they generalized a bit and left other things later on the implementing rules and regulations. But essentially, the general things are all there,” he said.

Ona added that the new version is just “clarifying the aspect which is a big issue of debates.”

“Good example like when do you give sex education, what age. Things like that,” he added.

Former health secretary Alberto Romualdez said the measure requires “a second look.”

“For example, there was a provision mandating the inclusion of contraceptives in the essential drugs list. It is not appropriate to Congress to legislate what is essential or not because they are already established,” Romualdez explained.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of the bill, had earlier expressed confidence that his measure was not weakened.

Lagman said the “essence of the original bill” was kept intact.

“We have not surrendered it. The compromise bill was just made more acceptable to those opposed to the original. We hope to approve the new version before the Christmas break in December. Its approval would be the greatest Christmas gift we can give to our people,” he added.