Idle funds

It’s Christmas season already. But instead of cheerful tolls of bells, alarm rings were set off.

The latest was yesterday’s reiteration of terror alert level-3 by the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) following last Monday’s foiled bombing attempt in front of the American embassy in Manila.

Then, there is the reported rising incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the Philippines. Worse, the noted increasing HIV cases involved young Filipinos tested positive for this dreaded illness. Known to be the precursor of the deadly acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, HIV-infected persons themselves could infect others also through sex, or other means of transmission like blood transfusion.

In a pre-taped message to all citizens of the world, Michel Sidibé, executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and concurrent UN undersecretary-general said: “Today, we commemorate World AIDS Day – we stand in solidarity with the 78 million people who have become infected with HIV and remember the 35 million who have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the first cases of HIV were reported.” 

On the eve of the World AIDS Day observance, alarm bells were set off by top officials with no less than the National Youth Commission (NYC) expressing concern over the rising HIV cases and described it as a worsening “youth epidemic” in the country. Citing official statistics, the NYC disclosed, 85 percent of new HIV cases in the country this year was found prevalent among Filipino age group between 15 and 24 years old.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), they project more than 55,000 Filipinos will get infected with HIV this year. From January 1984, when it was first detected in the Philippines to October 2016, DOH has recorded a total of 38,114 cases of HIV nationwide.  For this year alone, the DOH estimated that 29 people get infected with HIV daily.

DOH Secretary Paulyn Ubial announced yesterday their plans to distribute condoms in schools nationwide as part of the efforts to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS among Filipino youth. Ubial said the DOH will tie up with the Department of Education (DepEd) on how to implement the program in a pilot-test basis starting possibly early next year. In an apparent bid to reverse the rising incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country, the DOH plans to distribute condoms not only in health facilities, but even in non-traditional outlets like school clinics.

Taking off from the looming “youth epidemic” of HIV, advocates for the Reproductive Health (RH) Law issued warning bells on the impact of the injunction that has been stopping the government’s distribution of birth contraceptives as best “safe sex” protection for sexually active people, especially among the Filipino youth.

Pro-RH Law advocates led by Benjamin de Leon,  president of the Forum for Family Planning and Development, and Luz Frances Chua from the Catholics for Reproductive Health renewed their public appeals to the Supreme Court (SC) to resolve their long-pending petitions to lift the injunction on the Department of Health (DOH).

The two pro-RH petitioners aired their appeals in our Kapihan sa Manila Bay at Café Adriatico in Malate where they discussed the implications of the continuing injunction on the use of artificial birth contraceptives in relation with the universal campaign against HIV/AIDS in particular.

In pushing for the use of artificial contraceptives, Chua clarified, they are not promoting promiscuity but to promote maternal health while preventing unwanted pregnancy, abortion, and transmission of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

De Leon noted with concern the seeming no sense of urgency on the part of the High Court to resolve their pending petitions to resolve the petitions to lift on the TRO on DOH distribution of contraceptives. On the other hand, De Leon scored the SC as being too quick to act on political issues before them like the questioned transfer of burial of the deposed president Ferdinand Marcos.

For the past 16 months already, the pro-RH appeals have languished at the SC for reasons known only to the 15-man High Tribunal.

De Leon, however, acknowledged the magistrates of the High Court “are not scientists” to decide whether the contraceptives that the government would provide were abortifacients, or induces abortion which is illegal under our country’s laws. Under RH Law, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency under the DOH, should be the ones to determine if the said contraceptives would be safe.

De Leon, who formerly served as presidential assistant for social development during the term of former President Fidel Ramos, has been at the forefront of the lobby groups that pushed the enactment of the RH Law during the previous Congress.

Called as Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law, or Republic Act (RA) 10354, was approved and signed by former President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III in December 2012. After acrimonious debates and battles by those for and against it, the RH Law finally got through after five Congresses 14 years when it was first filed and re-filed for passage into law.

However, anti-RH groups led by pro-life advocates like Buhay party-list representative Lito Atienza sought the SC intervention to stop the DOH from implementing the mandated distribution of implanon, an anti-fertility patch, as among the types of birth contraceptives.

 Acting on this petition, the SC issued a TRO in June 2015 prohibiting the DOH from “procuring, selling, distributing, dispensing or administering, advertising and promoting the hormonal contraceptive Implanon and Implanon NXT.” The contraceptive implant can prevent pregnancies up to three years. The SC also stopped the FDA from granting pending applications for reproductive products, including contraceptives.

During our weekly breakfast forum at Kapihan sa Manila Bay, Atienza reminded the pro-RH petitioners the fault lies not with the law and the SC but the implementors of this law like the DOH and FDA. Atienza explained the SC issued a TRO because a provision of RH Law has been allegedly violated by the DOH/FDA for distributing contraceptives that were not certified if abortifacient or not.

While many other laws of the land remain un-implemented being unfunded, the RH Law is stuck at the SC.

Though funded with at least P1.2 billion in last year’s budget, the money for contraceptives lies idly.