Friday, August 24, 2007

Aklan Provincial Government AKPPO’s RPM & NFP Program To The Grassroots Level


LGU–Aklan, in its continuing service for the upliftment of the quality of life of Aklanon families and communities, under the leadership of Governor Carlito S. Marquez, signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Regional Population Office 6 for the implementation of the Responsible Parenting Movement (RPM) and Natural Family Planning (NFP). This project is spearheaded by the Aklan Provincial Population Office (AKPPO) headed by Arturo P. Teodosio, Jr., Provincial Population Officer.
The RPM & NFP program are in compliance with Malacañang’s directive to carry out an aggressive strategy to promote responsible parenting and natural family planning and to bring the said program to the barangay level.
For Aklan, barangay level classes will be conducted for 290 target couples in the seven (7) pilot municipalities of Altavas, New Washigton, Kalibo, Numancia, Malinao, Tangalan and Buruanga. To date, RPM & NFP classes are conducted in the municipalities of New Washington, Kalibo, Malinao, Tangalan and Buruanga, in partnership with the Local Government Units of the said municipalities. Other partner agencies are the Municipal Health Office, the Municipal Planning & Development Offices, the Municipal Interior & Local Government Office, the Municipal Civil Registrar’s Office, the Municipal Social Welfare & Development Office, as well as the Barangay Health Units in the target barangays. Non-Government Organizations like Arch. Gabriel M. Reyes Memorial Foundation, Inc. the academe such as Christ the King School and the DepEd, District of Tangalan, and also the Parish of St. Anthony of Padua in Buruanga, actively helped and participated in the actual conduct of RPM & NFP classes.
An RPM & NFP class is an 8-hour session for Married Couples of Reproductive Ages (MCRAs) on the following topics: Responsible Parenting; Fertility Awareness; and Natural Family Planning. The program aims to empower Filipino families through responsible parenting in order to make couples aware of their basic responsibilities as parents, awakening in them a sense of responsibility and commitment towards their family, neighbors, community, society and nation as a whole.
The beauty of the RPM & NFP program is the dynamic participation of various sectors in putting the family unit first and focusing on the family’s well being. It is nice to see couples from the barangays who took time out to leave their homes and chores, others even gave up a day’s work and earnings, just to spend a day to listen to the meaningful topics of the times, specifically on RM & NFP.
Standing on the premise that the family is the basic unit of society as well as the building blocks of the nation, the Aklan Provincial Government hopes that through the RPM & NFP program, Aklanon families will become empowered and be very much aware of their roles and responsibilities towards the attainment of sustainable development in their respective municipalities and the province as a whole. /MP

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