Glaring statistics prove need for urgently passing RH bill

By Janess Ann J. Ellao
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – The House of Representatives and the Senate is set to take a recess this week for the Holy Week break. Sessions will resume on May 7. There are speculations that if the impeachment process has been completed by then, the Congress will finally vote on the controversial Reproductive Health Bill.

In a press conference in Quezon City, authors of the Reproductive Health Bill in the Lower House, together with advocates, call on the Congress to pave the way for the “passage of the decade long, pending Reproductive Health bill and make it see the light of day,” the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc. said in a statement.

“Women and children are dying unnecessarily with President Benigno S. Aquino III’s failure to deliver much needed health care services to women,” Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan said, “Hemorrhage, eclampsia and sepsis infections are easily preventable causes of maternal and infant deaths yet Filipinos continue to suffer and die of these everyday because facilities are inadequate and there are no skilled healthcare professionals for childbirth.”

In January 2012 alone, the Department of Health has documented 50 incidents of maternal deaths in Metro Manila. On March 19, 2012, two new incidents of abandoned babies in Quezon City and in Davao were reported.

In a Philippine Star report, Roddie Santiago, a village officer, said the mother of the newborn baby found in Quezon City probably intended her baby to live because the mother tied it in such a way that you would not mistake it for trash. “The problem is she might not have the sufficient resources to support the needs of the newborn, forcing her to abandon the baby,” the report read.


(Photo by Anne Marxze D. Umil/Bulatlat.com)

“What could be more glaring than that? Clearly, we have a problem in reproductive health concerns of mothers, young people, among poor couples particularly,” Ramon San Pascual, executive director of the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation Inc.

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Balay Kahimsog accepts bookings

The Balay Kahimsog continues to accept bookings for seminars, retreats and other gatherings of government agencies, schools, and non-government organizations at affordable prices.

  The building overlooks the Visayan Sea and the magnificent mountains of Bohol.

The Balay Kahimsog is a concrete two-storey building located at the top of the hills of Barangay Cambanac, Baclayon, overlooking the quiet sea on one side and the magnificent mountains on the other side. Surrounded by trees, vegetables and flowers, it is reached by any vehicle about 15 minutes ride through scenic rolling hills from the main highway of Baclayon, about seven kilometers from Tagbilaran City.

 The lobby, reading area and stairs to the second floor.

It is a training center for health workers in community-based health programs (CBHPs) in Central Visayas region, and a resource center for primary health care and alternative forms of medicine including herbal medicine. A spacious open-air conference hall that could accommodate 150 persons occupies the entire second floor. Its first floor has a dormitory that could accommodate twenty persons, an air-conditioned room for two to three persons, an office, a kitchen, a living room and a reading area in the lobby.

The open spacious second floor can accommodate up to 150 persons.

To generate income for the programs and services of the CBHPs, the center has been accepting bookings. Proceeds also support medical and dental missions, health skills trainings and alternative medical practices such as herbal medicine preparation, ventusa, acupuncture and homeopathy. Built primarily from funds generated by the Fil-Am Center for Community Health and Development (FACCHD) in Pleasanton, Califonia, U.S.A, the construction took nearly four years. It started operation in the second quarter 2009 and has since then accepted bookings from different groups.

The hallway now used as dining area.

With its fresh air and magnificent view, it is also a perfect place for just staying over for tranquility, a brief respite from the hustles and bustles of city life.