Majority Of Filipino Voters Want Candidates To Prioritize Family Planning — Pulse Asia

Eight out of 10 or 79 percent of Filipinos say it is important that candidates include family planning in their programs of action, according to a recent Pulse Asia Survey.

The survey, conducted from Feb 15-20, was presented to the media by the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) and other advocates in a media briefing held Tuesday at Max’s Restaurant in Scout Tuazon, Quezon City.

Dr. Ana. Maria L. Tabunda, Pulse Asia research director presented the facts and figures gathered from 1,800 registered voters across the country as respondents.

Tabunda said that 95 percent of the respondents said that it is important to have the ability to plan their families, an increase of 5 percent from the result of a similar survey in 2010.

She also added that based on the survey, most Filipinos — nine of 10 or 86 percent also want the government to allocate funding for family planning services.

The survey also indicated that 52 percent of Filipinos agree that young people aged 15 and above should have access to family planning in public health facilities.

The questions on the survey was sponsored by PLCPD in the aim to press the current and even the next leaders in the government to fully implement the Reproductive Health Law by ensuring that there will be proper funding allocations for the implementations including family planning services.

“The people have spoken. Candidates should prioritize family planning and ensure the full implementation of the RH Law,” Romeo C. Dongeto, PLCPD executive director said during the unveiling of the results of the survey.

Other speakers present in the event shared their thoughts wherein they said the slash on the country’s RH budget should never happen again, noting that there is a need to support candidates who are pro-RH to ensure that women will not be deprived of their right to have access to reproductive health methods.

They also said that it is important that candidates should clearly include in their platforms their support for the promotion of RH to help empower more women and prevent poor from getting poorer by giving them the proper support to the choice to plan the number of the children that they want to have.(PNA) BNB/LSJ/EDS