Population control, US and Aquino governments’ hidden agenda – Gabriela

Population control, US and Aquino governments’ hidden agenda – Gabriela

“Population control defeats the rights-based, health-based, pro-poor characteristics of the RH Bill. As we call for the removal of population control provisions in the RH bill, the retention of pro-poor provisions lifted from Gabriela’s Comprehensive RH bill is non-negotiable.” – GWP Rep. Luz Ilagan
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Maternal and child health care or population control?

In the escalating debate over the proposed reproductive health law, Gabriela Women’s Party Representatives Luz Ilagan and Emmi de Jesus said President Benigno Aquino III is engaging in double-talk. Aquino has previously declared his support for the RH bill, but, the Gabriela lawmakers said, instead of increasing allocations for public health services, the administration has in fact slashed it.

This has prompted some quarters to conclude that Aquino’s support for healthcare for women and mothers is fake, and his interest lies more on the RH bill as a population control measure.

“Aquino is saying one thing yet doing the opposite. How can he claim support for programs on reproductive health or even responsible parenthood when he has cut the budget for health?,” said Ilagan.

Ilagan was referring to statements made by Aquino, September 22, when he appeared at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in Washington DC in the United States. Aquino said he supports the RH bill because it will help educate parents about birth spacing and responsible parenthood. Aquino also said the proposal was never meant to be solely a means to promote contraceptives.

“For all of his supportive words, Aquino has done the opposite – he has immobilized the government agencies and institutions tasked to provide health services by implementing budget cuts. Responsible parents must first have access to services to raise a healthy family,” Ilagan said.

The Gabriela solon explained that in the 2012 budget, five of the 12 Metro Manila-based special hospitals, and 18 of the 54 local hospitals nationwide did not t receive an increase in their allotment for maintenance and operating expenses. The Department of Budget and Management cut the DOH’s proposed budget from P80,143,863,00 (US$ 186,381,076) to P42,771,536,000 (US$994,686.883)) The government hospitals’ presentations also showed the negligible help that patients get from PhilHealth. At the Philippine Children Medical Center, for instance, PhilHealth accounts only for 14 percent of the total bill of PCMC patients for the year 2010. Majority of the expenses were shouldered by the patients, with 27 percent of the rest of the expenses covered by promissory notes.

The budget for “Health Facilities Enhancement program” which, based on Aquino’s budget message, is geared toward the improvement of maternal health, and the well-being of infants was slashed from P7.1 billion (US$162,790,697) in 2011, to P5.1 billion (US$116,27,907) in 2012.

“President Aquino should put his money where his mouth is and demonstrate his sincerity in upholding women and children’s rights to healthcare.”

US population control scheme in the guise of health projects?
President Aquino’s alacrity in supporting the RH bill, even as he allotted a minuscule budget to health services, has already prompted questions. Some quarters have said that Aquino’s stance on the RH bill is heavily influenced by groups that promote population control because these agencies are already giving financial and logistical support for population control programs in the guise of health projects.
The allegations of several anti-RH bill senators such as Sen. Tito Sotto that the RH bill is the handiwork of political and economic forces that want to impose population control over the Philippines appears to have some truth to it.

According to reports, he US Agency for International Development (USAID) mission in the Philippines has, since 2007, been implementing the PRISM Project, or the Private Sector Mobilization for Family Health (PRISM) Project.

The USAID is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering foreign aid. It was established by former US president John F. Kennedy in 1961 via an executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas authorized by the Congress in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. As an independent federal agency, it receives overall foreign policy guidance from the United States Secretary of State. USAID’s stated goals include providing “economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States.” It operates in Sub-Saharan Africa; Asia and the Near East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, and Eurasia.

In the Philippines, the Prism Project is already in its second phase and, according to the USAID, it “ expands private sector provision of health services on maternal and child health (MCH), and family planning (FP), through workplace initiatives, market development and private practice initiatives.” Specifically, Prism2 is also said to provide financial and logistical support to the Department of Health, Department of Labor and Employment, local government units (LGUs) and other national and local partners when it comes to the delivery of FP/MCH products and services. The project is being implemented in 78 provinces/independent cities nationwide from 2009 to 2014.

The USAID implements Prism2 also by coordinating with companies and cooperatives to increase employees or cooperative members’ access to family health information and services.

The USAID is also implementing a whole slew of projects that are aimed supposedly to improving the quality of health of Filipinos, specifically mothers and children. Through its Health Policy Development Program (HPDP), the USAID continues to involve itself in the development of what are supposed to be “appropriate policies and build a systematic policy change process” in the DOH. The focus of the USAID’s involvement is in developing contraceptive self-reliance/FP/MCH.

When it comes to health care financing, the USAID backs the DOH as it implements schemes to ensure “sustainability of essential health services, including expansion of the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP), multi-year financing of the costs of priority health programs, and ensuring equitable and efficient distribution of health resources across the country.”

In a word, the schemes comprise “privatization.”

According to the USAID website, its health policy development program runs an operations research project in Compostela Valley. There, the agency is testing “an integrated approach for preventing mother and child deaths through information and social mobilization.”

When it comes to its dealings with local government units, the USAID has its Strengthening Local Governance for Health (HealthGov) Project and the Sustainable Health Improvements through Empowerment and Local Development (SHIELD) Project. Here, the US agency involves itself in LGUs’ operations when it comes to establishing or maintaining health systems, on matters of financing, and in health service provision. The two projects are at the core of the the US agency’s health program areas — maternal and child health, family planning, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and emerging infectious diseases in areas in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) thru the Shield Project) and non-ARMM areas (through HealthGov).
HealthGov is said to focus on maternal and child health. Through the project, the USAID develops technical assistance products such as a tool to access the health department’s MCH grants by local governments. The project also supports advocacy for increased funding support and improved programs on MCH and other health issues.

As for the Shield Project, it is the means by which the USAID involves itself in local communities in coordination with local governments. The project sends Community Health Action Teams (CHATs), which supposedly assist health service providers in caring for mothers and newborns, including early detection and referral of mothers and newborns with complications.

In the meantime, it’s not just health programs that the USAID mission to the Philippines is involved in. It also works closely with the US Department of Defense through the Joint US Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG) in pushing for peace and security programs.

“This well-established civilian-military cooperation has enhanced the effectiveness of US foreign assistance, spread the benefits of assistance more widely, and fostered goodwill towards America among the Philippine people,” the USAID described the JUSMAG in its website.

Wikileaks on RH bill

Former US ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney in a cable exposed by Wikileaks has also commented on the RH bill, saying that there were ““Landmark appropriations and draft legislation reflect increasing commitment within the Philippine Government to further expand and sustain programs started forty years ago with US. Government’s assistance through USAID.

Kenney said in a cable, sent from Manila to Washington, DC in July 2008 that the US”continues to be the largest donor in the Philippine population sector supporting efforts to improve local government service delivery and increase private sector contributions to family health outcomes.”.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com


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