Ang Kapatiran's JC de los Reyes nixes WHO push for condoms

Ang Kapatiran presidential bet JC delos Reyes on Tuesday thumbed down the World Health Organization's (WHO) push for condom use, claiming the practice actually is harmful to women's health. "Ang problema po sa ng datos ng World Health Organization, sila po talaga ang nagpipilit together with the USAID and the UNFPA na ipasa po iyong mga batas na ito na sa tingin ko po ay hindi po maganda para sa kalusugan ng mga kababaihan. So kinukuwestiyon ko po iyong datos ng World health Organization. Because they have an agenda. Ang agenda po nila ay ipilit itong mga ito," De los Reyes said during Unang Hirit's Hiritan 2010. (The problem with the WHO is that it, along with the USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), is pushing for policies that are harmful to women’s health. I’m questioning their data because they have an agenda to push for condom use.) De los Reyes, however, did not elaborate on how women's health are affected by condoms.

De los Reyes issued his statement in reaction to the WHO data presented by economist Solita Monsod that Thailand’s HIV/AIDS cases declined from 424,000 to 27,000 a year after the Thai government’s promotion of a 100-percent condom use among its commercial sex workers. When pressed by Monsod if he believes WHO’s data on Thailand’s HIV cases were false, De los Reyes replied: "Hindi naman po siguro pero kung iyon po iyong mga datos ng Thailand, siguro po pag-aaralan namin. Pero hindi po nag-iiba iyong posisyon namin. Mali pa rin po ang pamamaraan na sugpuin po ang AIDS kung magpapamudmod ng condoms." (Perhaps the data is not incorrect, but we will be studying it. Nevertheless, our stand remains that condom distribution is not a deterrent against AIDS.) But Monsod maintained that that condom use has been proven to prevent HIV/AIDS in the past. "I cannot just let that pass. Condoms have been found to be the most effective manner of preventing AIDS. Not curing, but preventing." RH bill De los Reyes earlier condemned one of the Reproductive Health bill’s provision on providing sex education to the youth. "Alam niyo ho, it’s unscientific and unprofessional. Hindi po nag-work iyan sa Africa, sa Thailand. Hindi po nag-work iyan kaya nagtataka po ako kung bakit naman hindi sila natuto doon sa mga experience sa ibang bayan. Maliban po doon, kahit po hindi napasa iyong RH bill sa Kongreso, pinapasok po nila iyan sa panglokal na gobyerno. Kaya po talagang lahat gagawin nila para masusog iyong RH bill," De los Reyes said. (That is both unscientific and unprofessional. It has not worked in Africa and Thailand, so have they [Philippine lawmakers] not learned from these experiences? Aside from that, they are still trying to insert some of the RH bill’s provisions in the local government level.)
Asked by Monsod to explain why lower-income families in the Philippines tend to have more children than higher-income families, and whether this is related to their access to family planning options, De los Reyes said: "Sa palagay ko, kaya maraming mga bata ang mga mahihirap, ay iyon ang kanilang talagang wealth… iyon ang mahalaga sa kanila. But that’s the reason why the government should act, para ho pantay-pantay. Alam niyo ho, hindi porke’t marami silang anak, at konti ang anak ng mga mayayaman, ay mag-iimplement tayo ng massive population program na ibababa ang populasyon. Kasi hindi naman po natin masasabing overpopulated ang Pilipinas eh." (I believe that lower-income families have more children because they are considered treasures. But that’s the reason why the government should act, so everyone is on equal ground. Not because poor families have more children and rich families have little means that we have to implement a massive population control program, because the Philippines is not overpopulated in the first place.) In the Philippines, HIV cases in 2009 escalated to 821 from 528 in 2008, according to the National Epidemiology Center August 2009 Monthly Update, Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry 2009. The USAID, the largest contraceptive donor in the Philippines, will phase-out its donation this year, according to the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation Inc. (PLCPD). An advocate of the RH bill, the PLCPD cited this USAID’s move as one of the main reasons for pushing for the RH bill, which mandates the government to ensure the availability of family planning options to citizens. — Nikka Corsino/RSJ, GMANews.TV