Labor group supports clamour on the vote for the RH bill

PRESS RELEASE

6 August 2012

Women members of the Partido ng Manggagawa joined women groups from the Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN) at the House plenary session this afternoon to show support to clamor to finally put the RH bill to vote.

“It’s been more than a decade it is time to pass the RH bill.  Poor and working women have waited long enough,” explained PM General Secretary Judy Ann Chan-Miranda.

She added that, “Poor women need family planning services and commodities which they cannot afford.  Millions of poor women and adolescents are left uninformed about their reproductive health rights and needs.  We do want merely want a ‘yes’ vote to the RH bill, we want the provisions intended to address the reproductive rights and needs of poor and working women and adolescents intact,” asserted Miranda. 

Partido ng Manggagawa called on the pro-RH legislators from the House of Representatives and the Senate to ensure that the following provisions in the RH bill shall not be comprised:

1.     The right of women to choose which family planning method to use, hence, the availability of all range of contraception – natural or artificial – but medically safe;

2.     The right of adolescents to age-appropriate sexuality and reproductive health education;

3.     The continuation of program on the prevention and management of post-abortion complications, and humane medical treatment of women who have risked unsafe abortion; and

4.     The fund allocation to free reproductive health care services and commodities for the poor, especially women and adolescents.

Pacquiao will not be a champ in the fight against RH bill

PRESS RELEASE

18 May 2011

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) stated that Rep. Manny Pacquaio will face the fight of his life in the RH bill and forecasted that he will not emerge a champ in this gruelling match. “Pacquaio may not have been knocked out by questions about the contradiction between his position and his wife’s Jinkee’s use of the pill, but he will not survive a decision by the Filipino people on his fight for the RH bill. Survey after survey has shown a majority want access to reproductive health, among them birth control which Jinkee has the privilege of enjoying as a billionaire’s wife,” asserted Judy Ann Miranda, PM secretary-general.

Once more, PM mobilized its members for lobbying with the Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN) at the House of Representatives in Batasan, Quezon City.  Hundreds of women trooped to Congress to see the expected debate between Rep. Edcel C. Lagman and Rep. Pacquaio on the interpellation for the RH bill.

And in response to Pacquiao’s support for the Catholic Church’s position, Miranda argued that, “More or less 40% of the Philippine population are below the poverty line, these people, especially women, cannot afford having many children as per statement na ang utos ng simbahan ay humayo at magparami.  The workers greatly admire Pacquiao for his boxing prowess, pero sana naman pag-isipan niya na ang deklarasyon niya bilang kinatawan ng Sarangani in particular ay may malaking impact sa kalusugan at buhay na kababaihan.”

“Insisting that Filipinos religiously follow the Catholic Church’s outmoded doctrine on family planning and contraception is disregard for women’s universal right to reproductive health,” declared Miranda.

“Bakit, Manny, pagtutulungan ba ninyo ng Simbahang Katoliko ang pagtugon sa gastusin at pangangailangan ng mahihirap na pamilya kung susundin nila ang kautusang ito?  If you can afford to buy a P4 million-bag for Mommy Dionisia, these poor Filipinos na marami ay kababayan mo cannot even afford to eat three meals a day, buy clothes and send their children to school,” added Miranda.

Indeed, Pacquiao has declared that he will not change his position, nevertheless, PM would like to make this last appeal, “Manny, mas kailangan ng mga manggagawa lalung-lalo na ng kababaihan ang tulong mo, more than former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza and the Catholic Church.  Hindi kami hihingi ng balato mula sa milyon-milyong dolyar na kinikita mo sa boxing at commercials mo, ang hihingin naming balato ay puwang sa iyong puso para sa mahihirap.  Suportahan mo ang RH bill.”

Labor party, nurse group join hands for RH on Nurses Day

Press Release

May 15, 2011

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and a national group of nurses, the Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders & Advocates International Inc. (AYNLA), joined hands in pushing for the controversial RH bill on the observance of International Nurses Day last Thursday. “We link arms with our fellow workers in the nursing profession to advance their rights and welfare. Further workers and nurses add our voices to the growing chorus of support for the RH bill,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM chair.

In commemoration of Nurses Day, AYNLA national president Alvin Cloyd Dakis stressed the importance of a national comprehensive reproductive health law in the country to address the alarming maternal deaths, huge number of clandestine abortions and rising cases of HIV in the country and the vital role of nurses addressing these issues.

AYNLA is so far the most vocal nursing organization to have supported the passage of the RH Bill in Congress. For Dakis, it is essential for nurses to provide what their patients need and give them all the options they have for their health. “By educating them through appropriate information, we can make our patients the ‘Managers of their own health’ and be empowered in their choices” he said.

The International Nurses Day is celebrated annually every May 12 in commemoration of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. AYNLA celebrated with the rest of the world in this year’s International Nurses Day by making an online awareness campaign of the event through Facebook and Twitter.

Aside from jointly pushing for the RH bill, PM and AYNLA had cooperated in exposing the problem of on the job training fees for new nurses. Magtubo attended a Senate inquiry last January on the alleged exploitation of nurses where they have to pay fees in exchange of their volunteer work in the hospitals. Together with other nurses groups, AYNLA testified to the truth of allegations that hospitals have been levying OJT fees on many unemployed nurses in the country.

“We have a lot of nurses who are unemployed in the country but we have a lot of health concerns to address, which we believe we can contribute a lot – like the much talked about reproductive health” said Reigner Jireh Antiquera, AYNLA vice chair. Antiquera saw the importance of mobilizing our vast health human resources to help in providing services for reproductive health such as health education, counseling, HIV treatment care & support, and various RH services.

Women workers are caring mothers not terrorists

PRESS RELEASE

April 27, 2011

In response to Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Vice-President Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma statement that RH bill advocates are no better than terrorists, PM Secretary General Judy Ann Chan-Miranda explained that, “On the contrary, women workers are caring mothers not terrorists.  The analogy is erroneous just as insisting that condoms are abortifacients.  Women workers support the passage of the RH bill because they care that much for the future of their children and would-be children.”

Women workers through PM are strong supporters of the controversial RH bill. They cite the pro-worker provisions of the bill such as providing paid leaves for pre-natal consultations; PhilHealth coverage of family planning services and commodities, and also life-threatening RH-conditions like HIV AIDS, breast, ovarian and prostate cancers, and obstetric complications; and finally information to employees and even applicants of the RH benefits and services provided by companies.

Miranda further argues that, “With meagre salaries to spend for food and education, among others – in the midst of a crisis and rising prices – the RH bill’s provisions for reproductive health services is similar to ‘mana falling from the heaven.’  That after waiting for what seemed to be a lifetime women workers will have the chance now to provide for and take care of their families without sacrificing their health.”

“Beyond the illusion that artificial family planning methods are abortifacients, on the contrary, the absence of reproductive health care services has caused thousands of deaths among women, especially poor women.  And the unmet need for family planning services of women has caused also them to resort to backyard abortions which we all do not want to continue happening,” insisted Miranda in reply to Archbishop Palma.

She insisted that “Through the RH bill, minimum wage earners will be able to have access to complete accurate and relevant information, and affordable and accessible family planning and reproductive health care services and commodities.”

The passage of the RH bill is one of the demands to be raised by PM in the coming Labor Day celebration. Aside from the Mendiola rally at noon, PM will also lead Labor Day protests in Cebu City, Davao City, Bacolod City, Iloilo City, General Santos City, Iligan City and Dipolog City. Thousands of workers are expected to participate in the Labor Day protest.

PM joins womens’ groups in pushing House to approve RH bill

Press Release
February 16, 2011

Women members of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) joined the Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN) in a big demonstration at the House of Representatives to push Committee on Appropriations to finally approve the budget provisions of the RH bill. Once approved, plenary deliberations of the bill will commence.

More than a thousand women, including hundreds of women workers, gathered at the South gate of the lower house from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon carrying placards and streamers with slogans calling for immediate passage of the RH bill.

PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda called on the Committee to quit stalling on the bill, “Every day of delay in the RH bill passage, eleven (11) poor working women are dying from pregnancy and birth delivery complications. It is time to put a stop to this continued ‘daily slaughter’ of women? With the passage of the RH bill, we can avoid losing 4,015 precious women’s lives per year! It has been more than a decade, almost 12 years now, with the daily average, 48,180 women’s lives could have been saved!”

Particularly for workers, Miranda explained that, “It is not true that the RH bill is purely a family planning bill. Those saying so are not being truthful. In addition to Article 134 of the Labor Code wherein employers shall provide reproductive health services to all employees, the RH bill mandates that employers shall furnish in writing the following information to all employees and applicants:

‘(a) The medical and health benefits which workers are entitled to, including maternity and paternity leave benefits and the availability of family planning services,
‘(b) The reproductive health hazards associated with work, including hazards that may affect their reproductive functions especially pregnant women, and
‘(c) The availability of health facilities for workers."

In addition, Miranda further explained that employers are likewise obliged to monitor pregnant working employees and provide them with paid half-day leaves for each month of the pregnancy period during their employment, reimbursable to either the Social Security System (SSS) or the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

“These pro-worker provisions of the bill support the ‘SAFETY FIRST’ maxim in the workplace. Workers’ lives, especially women’s, are spared from pregnancy complications and work hazards,” according to Miranda. “Again, we call on our legislators to quit delaying the bill and the Catholic Church to quit confusing the people and blackmailing government officials. Kung totoong pro-life kayo, you should support the RH bill – the RH bill will save women’s lives.”

PM holds Valentine’s Day visit to Senate to push for RH bill

Press Release
February 14, 2011

Women members of the Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) paid the senators a Valentine’s Day visit carrying red pillow hearts to push for the passage of the RH bill. Big hearts were presented to senators who are supporting the bill and smaller ones to those whom working women are yet to convince to fully support RH.

Around fifty (50) PM members gathered at the gates of the Senate of the Philippines from 10:00 in the morning to 12:00 noon. PM is pushing for the passage of the House consolidated version of the RH bill.

“Eleven (11) poor working women are dying every day from pregnancy and birth delivery complications alone. Don’t we want an end to this continued ‘daily slaughter’ of women? With the passage of the RH bill, we can avoid losing 4,015 precious women’s lives per year,” asserted PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda.

Miranda further explained that, “Women workers have been pushing for the RH bill since 1998, almost 12 years have passed – 4,015 times 12 years is 48,180 women’s lives! Wala bang kwenta ang mga nalalagas na buhay na ito ng kababaihan sa gobyerno at sa Simbahang Katoliko!?”

“Although the family planning provisions of the bill are equally important, hindi lang naman ito ang laman ng RH bill. May probisyon para sa dagdag na skilled midwives to attend to pregnant women in rural and urban communities which we extremely lack; upgrading of health facilities to address emergency obstetric care; PhilHealth coverage expansion to include family planning and reproductive health conditions such as breast, cervical, ovarian, prostate and testicular cancers – for both women and men, respectively; paid half-day leaves per year of pregnancy for women workers’ pre-natal consultations, to name a few,” added Miranda.

PM believes that the Catholic Church’s position on the issue of family planning does not only confuse the people from the importance of allowing women to make decisions that concerns their reproductive health without discrimination, coercion and violence, but at the same time with the rest of the important aspects of the bill. “This rigmarole is not helping women at all. We sincerely hope that from this day on, sa araw ng pag-ibig sa kapwa lalong-lalo na, our senators this time will try to listen to the poor and working women na siyang higit na apektado – ang mga kababaihang nagbubuntis, nanganganak, nag-aalaga ng mga anak na kasabay nito ay naghahanapbuhay para mabigyan ng magandang kinabukasan ang susunod na henerasyon ng mga Pilipino,” said Miranda.

Finally, the women also criticized PNoy for easily giving into the Catholic Church’s pressure instead of closely considering the reproductive health needs of whom he referred to in his inaugural address as his “bosses.”

Women workers support RH bill

PRESS STATEMENT
1 December 2010

Working women add our voice to the chorus of support for the RH bill. The Partido ng Manggagawa asserts that the passage of House Bill 96 or “The Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2010” is critical given the impact of the global financial crisis on working people and the poor, especially women. The growing incidence of hunger and poverty only connotes that poor and working women will neither be able to afford nor access contraceptive methods, in particular, and reproductive health care services, in general.

PM supports the RH bill on the basis of women’s right to reproductive health care. The rapid increase in population due to unmet needs of married Filipino women for family planning services is a growing concern. It is different when population control is forced rather than the implicit demand of women as reflected in the following statistics:

• Women want fewer children than they actually have. The total wanted fertility in the country of 2.4 children is 27% lower than the actual total fertility rate of 3.3 children (NDHS 2008)

• 42% of women consider a two-child family as the ideal family size (2008 NDHS)

• 2.6 million Filipino women would like to plan their families but lack information and access to do so. (Family Planning Survey 2006)

• Among the poorest women who would like to avoid pregnancy, at least 41% do not use any contraceptive method because of lack of information or access. (FPS 2006)

• 22% of married Filipino women have an unmet need for family planning services (2008 National Demographic and Health Survey), an increase of more than one-third since the 2003 NDHS, among other numerous statistics and studies that have been conducted.

These data, including the fact that from the 1999 population of roughly 75 million, 10 years later after the first comprehensive version of the RH bill was filed in Congress, the country’s population has increased by 19.3 million or an annual average increase of two million every year within the decade.

And more importantly, precise and regular use of contraceptives can decrease abortion rates by as much as 85% according to Allan Guttmacher Institute. As to the Catholic Church’s irresponsible statement that modern contraception is a form of abortion, this distorts the scientific fact that pregnancy happens at implantation and not during conception as it boldly claims. Such unscientific assertion belies the Church’s claim of being not anti-scientific; it is rather relative, depending on whether it would adhere to its archaic views, regardless of it being anti-women.

This is like going back to the four centuries-old controversy (wherein the Church believed that it is the Earth rather than the Sun the is the center of the solar system) that led to thee burning of Giordano Bruno alive at the stake and the trial of Galileo Galilei by the Inquisition and which forced him to recant and spend the rest of his life under house arrest. And to which, 1992, Pope John Paul II acknowledged a mistake. PM hopes that it will not take that long for the Church to admit that it is making the same mistake.