BITTER PILL
Ex-DOH exec spills ‘bitter pill' of Ligtas Buntis drive

By Jeehan V. Fernandez and Leny G. Gabo

After a long 20 years work in the government's health department, a program manager for family planning for Eastern Visayas has “come out in the open” exposing the “bitter” plan of population control in the country.

Dr. Ligaya Acosta, who calls herself an “insider”, filed her terminal leave from the Department of Health (DOH) saying she “can't separate work from morality”.

“I realized that the church was right all along,” Acosta stressed citing that “as a researcher, I found out that contraceptives are abortifacients”. “I challenged the DOH to tell the public the ill-effects of contraceptives,” she told the Iloilo media on March 19.

Acosta argued that the DOH's Ligtas Buntis program targeting two million male and two million female of reproductive age “is contrary to divine and moral law”.

According to the DOH, the program “provides adequate factual information on fertility and various medically safe and legally accepted family planning services to enable men, women and couples to have the responsible decision based on informed choices”.

However, it can be noted that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) assailed the said government's program as it “violates and mocks the privacy and autonomy of couples and families”.

The church and other “pro-life” organizations contend that the only birth control measures approved are the so-called “natural family planning” which is aptly applicable to the Philippines with a predominantly Roman Catholics population.

Acosta even belied statements that “Ligtas Buntis” which is a door-to-door campaign is merely information dissemination in order to identify if contraceptive is really needed. But health officials pointed out this will only serve as a basis of the DOH to supply birth control medicines if there is a demand.

“Ligtas Buntis is focused on health intervention, prevention of high-risk pregnancies, reduction of maternal deaths, prevention of abortion and responding to the unmet needs and demands of women of reproductive age,” the DOH explained.

On the other hand, Acosta together with the groups called Human Life International Pilipinas and Doctors for Life are strongly opposing the program as they “debunk” the overpopulation myth “unmask” the evils of “Ligtas Buntis”.

“Many people in the DOH don't really know what Ligtas Buntis is all about,” Acosta said noting that there is also the existent “systematic brainwashing” of overpopulation in the country when in fact, there is none.

“Condoms are a multi-billon dollars industry while there is no money in the natural family planning program,” Acosta pointed out that is why the implementation of “Ligtas Buntis” has been urged.

Meanwhile, Dr. Brian Clowes, Pro-Life Movement Director assailed the House Bill 3773 (Reproductive Health) saying it is not a Filipino bill but an American bill, which was adopted by Philippines .

He said that there is about $200 million dollars invested for promoting contraceptives among the people.

“The US is bribing the Philippine government to do what they wanted to do in order to legalize abortion for the sake of their million dollar investments,” Clowes said.