GMA, the taray queen? Blame birth control pills

Did the pill make her cranky?

President Arroyo, a devout Catholic, yesterday admitted having taken birth control pills even though the Church frowns on artificial contraception.

But the President, a grandmother who turns 56 on April 5, tried to make light of her admission. "For all you know, I became mataray because I took (birth control) pills," she told reporters, referring to her crankiness.

The President was responding to queries about a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) that she used pills when she was a young mother.

The PCIJ, quoting unnamed lawmakers present at a dinner where the President made her remarks on the pill, scored her active promotion of natural family planning to promote her administration’s population policy when she herself had used artificial means to space the years between her children.

The President and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo have three children — Pampanga Vice Governor Mikey Arroyo, Luli and Dato.

Despite the PCIJ report, Mrs. Arroyo was in a light mood and seemed not to have taken offense. "Anyway, what’s important is the people have an informed choice that they know that there are these methods and each couple has their cultural and religious convictions," she said.

"What is important is that they know what technologies are available, in accordance with their convictions," the President added.

Mrs. Arroyo earlier said she favored natural family planning methods to check the rampaging population growth rate in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, saying these natural methods were "safer, they don’t (induce) hormonal changes."

She added that natural birth control methods, which involve determining the fertile periods of a woman’s monthly cycle and abstention from sex during these fertile phases, "are 99 percent effective, which is the effectiveness of the pill."

Even as her administration, through the Department of Health (DOH) would actively promote natural birth control, Mrs. Arroyo said this would not stop other government agencies, especially local government units, from promoting the use of artificial contraceptives.

Artificial birth control methods and devices "are already known and they are already there on the shelves of LGUs because the DOH has been devolved," the President added.

"What is not known by even the most educated people like the ladies of the (Palace) press corps are the natural family planning methods," the she said, "so we have to equalize the information."

Contraceptives were distributed to LGU health centers during the term of former President Fidel Ramos, a Protestant, prior to the devolution of the DOH provincial offices to LGUs.

During the Ramos administration, then Health Secretary Juan Flavier promoted the use of artificial contraceptives for family planning, despite heated censure from the Church.

Flavier also promoted the use of condoms to prevent unplanned pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, like gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, herpes and the still-incurable and lethal AIDS.

The Chief Executive announced in January her government would launch a family planning campaign emphasizing "responsible parenthood, respect for life, birth spacing and informed choice."

She refrained from mentioning artificial contraceptives to avoid angering the Church, which helped install her in power after her graft-ridden predecessor Joseph Estrada was ousted in a popular uprising in 2001.

The Church has strongly campaigned against artificial contraceptives — including birth control pills, intrauterine devices (IUDs), condoms, contraceptive suppositories, gels and foams and vaginal diaphragm caps. It has also threatened politicians with censure if they promote birth-control devices.

The Philippine population exceeded 80 million last year. At 2.36 percent a year, the country has one of the highest population growth rates in Asia.