LEYTE-SAMAR Fact-finding for Leyte-Samar was conducted on April 22-24, 2016, in the following areas: municipalities of Palo and Basey, and Tacloban City in Leyte; and municipalities of Quinapondan, Balangiga and Giporlos in Eastern Samar. Public hearing for Tacloban was conducted on April 25, 2016. Participants included residents of Brgy. Quinapondan, E. Samar; Brgy. Paya Giporlos E. Samar; Brgy. 92 Apitong, Tacloban City; and Brgy. 25, Women’s Shelter, Tacloban City. There were also representatives from the CHR-VIII, DOH, UPV-Tacloban College, Eastern Visayas Network of NGOs and POs (EVNet), St. Paul’s School of Professionals (SPSS), Leyte Family Development Org. Multi-Purpose Cooperative, FDC-Tanauan, Leyte; SB Dev’t Consulting; Ridgeview Resettlement Area; nurses from Palo, Leyte and Basey, Samar; Leyte Family Development Org. Multi-Purpose Cooperative, POPCOM, CSWDO, DSWD, Brgy. Senior Citizens, Brgy. San Jose Association; and PAGASA Youth Association of the Philippines. Results of the data gathering under the four issues in RH are as follows. EFFECTIVENESS AND LEVELS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF RH SERVICES AND INFORMATION 1. LACK OF POLICY SUPPORT There is no reported local policy that directly facilitated or hindered the implementation of the RH Law. However, there is a general sense of a lack of support from the government, as Prof. Lyn Mangada of the UPV Tacloban College commented on the effectiveness of RH implementation. “We are talking here about behavior change, we are asking people to change their behavior but [the] government is not also changing.” 2. PRESENCE OF SUPPORT FROM ALTERNATIVE SERVICE PROVIDERS In the surveys that UPV Tacloban College conducted, there was no mention that DOH distributed hygiene kits, with the task being carried out instead by NGOs 3. INADEQUATE RH SERVICES Information dissemination is ineffective in the area. According to Mr. Ravas of SPSS, most patients do not understand the programs of the DOH although they are available in print. EVNet added that there is low awareness of the RH Law, with information only limited to the beneficiaries of the 4Ps program. Other services are also inadequate. According to Prof. Lim-Mangada of UPVTC, the high death rate in hospitals is an issue of access and not of availability. According to Mr. Ravas of EVRMC, based on their research a lot of pregnant women who are admitted in EVRMC do not have 36