Popcom updates in media meeting
By Elvie Roman-Roa
ORMOC CITY – Provincial Population Officers from Region 8 meet for a quarter media conference in Ormoc to give update on the status of the Philippine Population Management Program (PPMP) as applied on different cities and municipalities.
OIC – POPCOM Regional Director Ms. Elnora Pulma led the three-day quarter conference held in Sabin Resort Hotel, from March 1 – 3. The purpose was to get the updates from the different provinces on the application they adopted, as programmed from last year’s target, regarding the PPMP.
POPCOM emphasized on the natural family planning as their main program, after the US Aid withdrew their assistance to the country years ago, said Dra. Navales adding that it made the Philippine Family Planning program crippled.
The main concern of the health program is to instill on the minds of the couples, the values of love and loyalty likewise considering the health of the entire family. “The program does not want to command the couple as to how many children they would want to have but birth spacing is encouraged,” said Pulma.
POPCOM introduced three methods in Family Planning: Permanent – includes ligation and vasectomy; Artificial – which uses pills, condoms, IUD, injectable, etc and natural way which is the only method the Church approves wherein Rhythm or the calendar method is one. For the loss of the donors (USAID) on the family planning program, POPCOM focused on encouraging the couples to apply the natural way.
Starting 2008, POPCOM introduced RPM-NFP which the local health officers found very effective. According to Dra. Navales, they grab the opportunity by accepting immediately the program because she found it more applicable to the populace.
Last 2009, Ormoc City received a budget for the program from the national office through the region amounting to P1.6 million pesos. Part of the amount was used to educate the couples on their responsibility as parents and to remain loyal to their partners through a one-day seminar. To encourage more couple to attend from the suburbs, they are given free lunch and two snacks with a cash allowance of 100 pesos per day. For six months (July – December 2009), CHO was able to gather 2,353 couples. Now they are monitored for three months if they have applied what they have learned.
Part of the program is to create a teen center, giving chances to the young adults to submit themselves for a free education to avoid engaging pre-marital sex and teen pregnancy.
Currently, Biliran has a teen center while Tacloban has youth center. “Hopefully Ormoc will be able to have through the help of LGU,” Dir. Pulma said.
POPCOM officers from Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Southern Leyte, Biliran and Leyte, together with the Ormoc City Health Officer Dra. Nelita Navales and Responsible Parenting Movement – Natural Family Planning (RPM-NFP) designate Vitaliano Gallo Jr., attended, as spearheaded by the Regional Office.
