is shown in Marikina City with its Contraceptive Self Reliance Ordinance; in Manila City, the “Pro-Life” EO 003 of Mayor Atienza was superseded by EO 030 of Mayor Lim. However, while the EO 030 does not prohibit artificial contraceptives, it continues to bar local funding for artificial contraceptives. In Sorsogon City, there is outright refusal to implement the law with the adoption of Mayor Sally Lee’s “Pro-Life Ordinance” resulting in the denial of access to artificial contraceptives, resulting in unmet needs of women in Sorsogon City. Policy Barriers to RHRH Other local policies were also found to be contradicting the RH law and weakening its effective implementation. The policies that served as barriers to the implementation of the law were the TRO on Implanon issued by the Supreme Court, the required consent from parents for adolescents and from husbands for their wives on availing certain RH goods and services, the absolute ban on abortion, the absence and unavailability of emergency contraceptives, and the criminalization of traditional and indigenous home births. The latter highlights the lack of reconciliation regarding the implications of the RH Law on traditional RH practices. The decision in Imbong vs. Ochoa and the declaration of the Supreme Court in upholding the rights of consciencious objectors and the voiding of penalties for government officers refusing to implement the RPRH law also barred full implementation of the RPRH law. The ruling has been invoked by Sorsogon City’s Mayor Lee in refusing to implement the law, and it is likewise used by some government health facilities and health service providers in seeking parental consent for minors and in refusing tubal ligation for married women without the consent of their husbands. Role of DOH, Monitoring of RPRH, Role of CSOs With respect the role of the Department of Health and of the monitoring of the implementation of the Reproductive Health Law, the fact finding and public hearings documented the efforts being undertaken to monitor the implementation of the RPRH law through the Regional and National RPRH Implementation Team. The Inquiry also documented practices by National Government Agencies such as POP Com and DSWD in incorporating RH in their programs such as 4Ps as well as the efforts being undertaken to engage men in the RH agenda. Effective partnerships with civil society organizations in the delivery of RH services and information have been documented in all of the areas visited. The CSOs were recognized as partners of the local government and national government in the implementation of RH law, and in far flung areas such as in the island provinces in Mindanao, CSOs often fill the service delivery gap by both National and Local Government Units. In the case of Sorsogon City and of the Mayor’s refusal to dispense artificial contraceptives, the Commission found that despite the prohibition of artificial contraceptives by the City of Sorsogon, the Department of Health has undertaken 4

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