Garin on Duterte's 3-child policy: Yung maagang nabubuntis, maagang nagiging lola 

 

Health Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin welcomed incoming president Rodrigo Duterte's plan to impose a three-child policy, saying it will give impoverished couples a chance to raise their children out of poverty.

"Kung buntis ka ng buntis, poverty will be an inter-generational trait. Ang nangyayari ngayon, yung maagang nabuntis, nagiging maaga ring lola. Kaya ang kahirapan ay ipinapamana. Bakit? Kasi gusto man ng pamilyang planuhin yung pamilya niya, gusto man ng pamilya na tatlo o dalawa lang yung anak nila, hindi tinutulungan ng gobyerno," she said.

Garin, who said she was "not speaking on behalf" of the Department of Health (DOH), made the statement in a health forum in Quezon City on Wednesday.

The outgoing health secretary also called on the Supreme Court to lift the temporary restraining order (TRO) which prevents the DOH from procuring contraceptive implants.

"Habang pinagbabawalan ang FDA na mag-issue ng bagong permit sa lahat ng family planning commodities at mag-renew ng permit sa lahat ng family planning commodities, isa-isa pong nawala sa market ang mga pills, condoms, IUDs, family planning implants," Garin said.

"Darating po tayo sa panahon in the next two years that contraceptives or family planning commodities will be very expensive at darating tayo doon, balik sa Stone Age, where we have to smuggle it here simply because it's not being made available," she warned.

The TRO was filed to prevent the procurement of Implanon, a contraceptive implant that will prevent pregnancies for up to three years, as it lacks approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Because of the TRO, senators elected to strike down more than P860 million fund allocated for the purchase of Implanon from the DOH's 2016 budget.

Garin commented in a TV interview last January that the budget cut prevented the procurement of even FDA-approved contraceptives for poor families.

"It's quite unfair, especially for families in the lower socio-economic class... If a family wants to plan and space their pregnancies, government should support that," Garin said at the forum on Wednesday.

As a congressman representing the 1st district of Iloilo, Garin was principal sponsor of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health act of 2012. — APG, GMA News