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DOH CHD-POPCOM Reg. 6

Conducts PM-NFP Assessment

Regional Management Conference

by Cecille dela Rosa de Lemos

The Department of Health Center for Health Development and the Commission on Population Region 6 conducted the Responsible Parenting Movement (RPM) – Natural Family Planning Assessment and Regional Management conference with provincial and city RPM Team members on last month at Sarabia Manor Hotel and Convention Center, Iloilo City.
The following Aklan RPM Team delegates attended the activity: Chairperson, Vice Mayor Jean T. Velarde – President, Vice Mayors League; Vice Chairperson, Arturo P. Teodosio, Jr. – Provincial Population Officer; Rev. Cezar P. Indelible – Administrator, Christ the King School – Kalibo; Emmanuel M. Parco – Archbishop Gabriel M. Reyes Memorial Foundation; Nuelia P. Zaldivar – Family Planning Coordinator, PHP; and Celia R. de Lemos – Breastfeeding Coordinator, PHO.
Responsible parenting is anchored on several provisions of the 1987 Constitution, particularly Article XV, Section 3.1 and Article II, Section 9, 12, 14 and 16. These constitutional provisions give couples the responsibility to manage the size of their family in accordance with their religious beliefs and the demands of responsible parenting. There is a need to respond to the concerns of the family towards birth spacing, breastfeeding and natural family planning.
Regional Director Vicente N. Molejona, POPCOM VI, urged the participants to strengthen the Responsible Parenthood program as a major thrust of Population and Development program. According to him, the participants’ Visayan culture will enable them to work, teach and learn together with different agencies.
Former mayor of Concepcion, Iloilo, Hon. Raul N. Banias, presidential assistant for Visayas, believed that in order to reduce poverty, it is important to influence and get support of local leaders. One of the effective means is the use of evidence based data which will show them the population growth rate and health indices that will encourage them to ink population policies and programs. “There is a need to strengthen program linking population, health and environment,” said Hon. Banias who is the 2006 Rafael Salas awardee for Population and Development.
Mrs. Medalla Balandra, NFP coordinator, represented Director Lydia Depra–Ramos. Harold Marshall, POPCOM planning officer IV, presented the RPM–NFP Guidelines, Targets and Accomplishment. The presentation on monitoring and reporting forms was facilitated by Pilar Lamanosa, POPCOM project evaluation officer I.
A workshop was conducted with focus on the identification of good practices, strengths, issues and concerns and next steps for RPM-NFP implementation by the LGU-RPM Team. LGUs/RPM Team presented the workshop outputs which reveal the need to intensify advocacy activities, data collection, monitoring, strengthening of the partnership among the LGU, the barangay officials and the community and strong partnership with NGOs, private and business sectors, and the media.

Re-establishing AKPPO

The Aklan Provincial Population Office was re-established through Provincial Ordinance No. 05-020 dated June 15, 2005. Mr. Arturo P. Teodosio, Jr. provincial population officer, was appointed recently to implement the Aklan Integrated Population and Development Program and the Population Management Program.
Last month, Gov. Carlito S. Marquez signed Executive Order No. 02 creating the Provincial Responsible Parenting Movement (RPM) and Natural Family Planning (NFP) Team/Council. As core of trainers at the provincial level, the Team will orient, monitor, and evaluate service providers on the compliance of Informed Choice, Voluntarism and Responsible Parenting. /MP