CHR NATIONAL INQUIRY ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
contradict the RPRH Law and weaken its
implementation. Policy and legal barriers to
the implementation of the law include the TRO
on Implanon issued by the Supreme Court, the
required consent from parents for adolescents to
access RH services and to have themselves tested
for HIV, the practice of requiring husbands’
consent for their wives’ access to RH services,
particularly IUD insertion and tubal ligation,
and the absolute ban on abortion, which has led
to unsafe abortions and to stigma in the access
and availability of Post Abortion Care (PAC).
The absence and unavailability of emergency
contraceptives, and the provision in the contracts
of nurses in the Nurses Deployment Program
(NDP) of Region X providing dismissal in case
of pregnancy, as well as the criminalization of
traditional and indigenous home births in many
local government ordinances are also areas of
concern. The decision in Imbong vs. Ochoa
and the declaration of the Supreme Court in
upholding the rights of “conscientious objectors”
and the voiding of penalties for government
officers refusing to implement the RPRH Law
also barred its full implementation.
The Imbong ruling was invoked by Sorsogon
City’s Mayor Lee in refusing to implement the
law. It is also used by some government health
facilities and health service providers to require
parental consent before providing RH services to
minors, and spousal consent for tubal ligation of
married women.
2. Despite the passage of and current
national implementation of the RPRH
Law, challenges on de facto availability,
accessibility, sufficiency, and adequacy of
RH services and information remain
The National Inquiry documented
experiences which ranged from having excess
of commodities to inadequacy, insufficiency,
and inaccessibility in the provisions of
37
RH commodities and services for women.
Bearing the brunt of the latter are women
in vulnerable and marginalized sectors (e.g.
lesbian, bisexual and transgender women,
women with disabilities, Moro and indigenous
women, and women living in geographically
inaccessible areas). In many instances, health
facilities are inaccessible or absent in remote
areas. Even in cases where they are present and
accessible, facilities, equipments and supplies of
commodities are insufficient.
3. Barriers in accessing RH services include
lack of information and misinformation
on RH, breakdown of service delivery
networks, religious and cultural barriers,
and unprofessional or unethical practices
of health service providers
Misinformation and Lack of Information on RH
One of the barriers identified across the
cluster areas is misinformation and lack of
information on RH. In Sorsogon City, the
CHR found that the LGU gives misleading
information against modern family planning
methods through sponsored radio programs
and “Pro-life” conventions. This affected
women’s willingness to avail of RH services and
goods. The misinformation included claims
that artificial contraceptives cause cancer and
associating contraceptive use with abortion.
Active religious resistance on artificial RH
commodities also exist in Sorsogon City and in
some areas of Leyte and Samar.
Breakdown of Service Delivery Networks
The National Inquiry also documented
breakdown in the service delivery network and
coordination among government hospitals,
rural health units, and lying-in clinics, which
often resulted to maternal deaths. Women
living in geographically isolated areas who have