If there’s anything really wrong with the policies of the Aquino government, it is that they are not creating policies that are fitting and right for our Filipino culture. Rather, they are following policies that are copied almost word for word from the United States or from the United Nations. A case in point are the policies proposed under the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, which we all know has been vigorously promoted by the United Nations (UN) and by the United States, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to the Philippines and told us that we badly needed one.
I gathered that the Department of Health released administration order No .2012-0009 on National Strategy towards reducing unmet needs for Modern Family Planning as a means to achieving MDGS on Maternal Health signed by Health Secretary Ona. This basically implements a large portion of the controversial RH bill. So why should we pass the RH Bill?
One of these so-called needs is the use of contraceptives, which many people already know is linked to breast cancer. Why then is the DOH pushing for this when it can cause the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of poor women? I reckon that there is huge money coming from companies producing oral contraceptives and condoms, which is why even our legislators vigorously promote them. If you ask me, the DOH should look for ways to prevent health problems instead of promoting contraceptive use.
Surely those doctors at the DOH know that oral contraceptives cause breast cells to divide more rapidly and thus open many women to a greater risk of acquiring cancer. According to the 2009 study Risk Factors for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer in Women under the age of 45 years published in the journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomakers, and Prevention, after less than one year of taking oral contraceptives, a woman’s risk of triple-negative breast cancer is increased by two and a half times. In one more year, it increased four-fold. Come now, where are the alarm bells clanging in the DOH of the impending health risk on women? I don’t hear any!
The Texas Tribune last April 7, 2011 came up with an article that many Republicans believe that Family Planning is abortion. Let me reprint a portion of that article for our readers. “Is “family planning” a euphemism for abortion? Many House Republicans seem to think so. In amendment after amendment during last weekend’s budget battle, they raided the Department of State Health Services’ Family Planning money—which funds reproductive health services, but not abortions, for Texas’s poorest women—to divert money to other budget-whacked services, from autism to children’s mental health.
Some took a nuanced approach, saying they were simply prioritizing other programs—with the added benefit of sending far fewer state dollars to Planned Parenthood. Others were blatant, like Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, who said his amendment would defund “the abortion industry.”
Again I would like to reiterate that the Philippine government should focus more on health centers where childcare is often neglected. But instead, they are promoting contraceptives so that there would be fewer children to take care of. But like what I said, they are following the policies of the United States or the UN, which promotes population control.
Another issue that clearly was taken verbatim from US policies came out as a front-page story in The Philippine Star last Wednesday, which was headlined, “No PDA, cross-dressing for gay cadets at PMA.” PMA Superintendent Maj. Gen. Nonato Peralta said, “All cadets—homosexuals or not should pass all the exams and should be able to hurdle the rigorous academy training.” Come now, I do not recall if there was any clamor by homosexuals or even from that partylist group Ladlad demanding entry to the PMA? Why is it that all of the sudden the PMA opens its doors to homosexuals?
I can only reckon that this new PMA policy must have been “whispered” into the ear of our Defense establishment because under the Clinton Administration, on Dec. 21, 1993, the United States adopted the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy so as not to discriminate against closeted homosexuals or bisexuals seeking entry into the US Armed services, while it bars openly gay, lesbian or bisexual persons from entering the military.
This was a complete departure from the Uniform Code of Military Justice signed by Pres. Harry Truman in 1950, which had a section that basically discharges military personnel for their sexual orientation. But in July 2011, Pres. Barrack Obama formally certified a law that repeals the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and opened the US military to accept persons regardless of their sexual orientation. At this point I would like to believe that if we don’t stop the PMA from adopting this policy, very soon, we will follow exactly what has been happening in the US military, which is not our culture.
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Email: vsbobita@gmail.com.