Dr. Honorata Catibog, director of the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control of the DOH, said some LGUs have to start implementing the Contraceptive Self-Reliance (CSR) program of the national government as the final supply of commodities from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ends in 2008.

In a media orientation held in this city, Catibog said LGUs have the responsibility of ensuring that family-planning methods are available for couples who want to either limit or space birth.

Since the USAID's announcement of a "phase-down" of contraceptive supplies to the Philippines, the country has formulated the CSR program to mitigate the effect of the withdrawal of the $3 million to $5 million donation from the US.

According to the DOH official, some "rich LGUs" have already stopped receiving USAID assistance and are expected to finance their own family-planning needs.

The CSR intends to assure that there will be no disruption in contraceptive supplies to current users particularly among the poorest class during the phase-down of donations.

Among LGUs, Quezon City has allotted the biggest budget for contraceptives with P2.7 million while Manila has remained defiant, with Mayor Lito Atienza clinging to natural family planning. A total of P19.268 million has been allotted by 16 LGUs, except Manila, as budget for contraceptives.

Catibog said local executives are now receiving technical training to teach them how to make a sound family-planning program and detect unmet need in their areas. Unmet need is the number of couples who want to practice family planning but could not do so because of lack of services.

"Some LGUs are still remiss in providing contraceptive supplies to the barangays. They didn't take charge to make sure that supplies are there," she observed.

Catibog recalled that during the 30-year assistance from the USAID, some local officials did not provide transportation to deliver contraceptives to far-flung barangays. The international agency has been providing artificial birth-control methods to the Philippines since the 1970s but announced that it will pull out aid on a gradual basis. C. Jimenez

Family planning allowed in ARMM

MORE people in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are becoming more aware of the religious teaching on family planning, which states that all methods of family planning are allowed as long as they are safe, legal and in accordance with the Islamic sharia.

The teaching (fatwa) on reproductive health and family planning was officially proclaimed by the Darul-Iftah (House of Islamic Opinion) of the Philippines only last March to change misconceptions that family planning was not allowed by Islam. The fatwa explains that family planning does not refer to birth control or abortion but rather to birth or child spacing.

Conducted by the research group TNS, the study revealed that 55 percent of the ARMM's adult population has heard a radio spot that discussed Islam and family planning. Seven out of 10 imams (religious teachers) also say they have heard such spots.

The spots were aired for two and a half months over two radio stations in Tawi-Tawi, four stations in Zamboanga for airing to Basilan, two stations in Cotabato for airing to Maguindanao and one station in Marawi City. The spots were translated into the Maranao, Maguindanao, Yakan, Tausug and Sama dialects.

The spots announced that "the national fatwa, an edict on family planning proclaimed by the Assembly of Darul-Iftah of the Philippines on March 10, 2004, says that all methods of birth spacing are allowed as long as they are safe, legal, in accordance with the Islamic sharia and approved by a credible physician, preferably a Muslim, for the benefit of both mother and child."

Listeners are also encouraged to ask their religious leaders about the fatwa and to visit their health center for more information on family planning.

According to the study, the respondents recalled the spots were about "improving the quality of life and health of the family."

"The ARMM poses a great challenge when it comes to providing the right information on family planning," said Darul-Ifta member Ustadz Esmael Ebrahim. "Many believe that it is against the Islamic faith. The recall of the ads tells us that people are aware of the fatwa, that family planning is in accordance with their beliefs. We are happy to see that this project has helped break ground in opening up discussions and, with that, opening up possibilities for better health and quality of life among the residents of the region."

Before the issuance of the fatwa and the two radio spots, 27 percent of married women in the ARMM who are not practicing family planning expressed their desire to space or limit births.

Experts agree that unfamiliarity with family planning and the lack of available health services are to blame for a maternal mortality rate of 320 out of every 100,000 mothers in the region due to birth-related causes that are considered preventable. This maternal mortality rate is one of the highest in the country.