Pulse Asia survey: 69% of Filipinos agree with RH bill

Published November 30, 2010 12:19pm

By CANDICE MONTENEGRO, GMANews.TV
(Updated 9:24 p.m.)
A considerable majority of Filipinos, 69 percent, agree with the
Reproductive Health (RH) Bill pending in Congress, said pollster
Pulse Asia. The Pulse Asia survey conducted in October, showed
that:
*69 percent of those surveyed agree with the RH bill;
*7 percent opposed the bill;
*while 24 percent could not say if they agree or disagree
with the bill.
Measuring the people's awareness about the bill, Pulse Asia said
eight out of 10 Filipinos (80 percent) knew about the RH Bill
currently pending in Congress. In Metro Manila, 90 percent of the
respondents were aware of the bill. The level of awareness
measured by the survey was higher in the best-off Class ABC than
in the poorer Class E. Two out of 10 Filipinos only learned about
the bill while being interviewed for the survey. Opposing the RH
bill Those who disagreed with the RH bill were asked about their
opinions on the provisions of the bill. The majority of those who
disagreed accepted the following provisions of the RH bill:
*recognizing the rights of women and couples to choose the family
planning method that they want on the basis of their needs and
personal and religious beliefs (79%);
*promoting information about and access to natural and modern
family planning methods (70%); and
*stipulating the use of government funds to support modern
family planning methods (55%).
From among those who disagree with the bill, 44 percent disagree
with the proposal to include 'Reproductive Health and Sexuality
Education' in the school curricula. The survey fieldwork was
conducted from October 20 to 29, 2010 using face-to-face
interviews. The nationwide survey is based on a sample of 1,200
representative adults 18 years old and above. Population problem
In Malacañang, President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III said
the high percentage of Filipinos agreeing with the RH bill must
mean that the public wants the government to help address the
population problem. "Kung karamihan ng taumbayan tinatanaw na rin
na meron tayo talagang problemang dapat ayusin, siguro diyan
nagsisismula yung survey ng Pulse na kelangan nga naming pansinin
at bigyan ng lunas yung problema natin sa populasyon na di
naaruga ," Aquino told reporters on Tuesday. (If majority of the
public believe that there is indeed a problem that needs to be
solved, perhaps this is what the Pulse survey is about, that we
have to address and solve our problem with a portion of the
population that is not being taken care of.) However, Aquino said
his stance on reproductive health is not based on poll figures.
"I'm not gonna base any of my decisions or my stance on what the
survey says," he said. Aquino reiterated his stance on for
responsible parenthood, where couples are informed thoroughly of
their parenting responsibilities as well as their reproductive
health choices. Once the government has provided them
comprehensive information, the government may also provide poor
couples the birth control method they choose to use, he said. RH
bill 96 Several versions of the RH bill have been filed in
previous Philippine congresses. In the present Congress, the RH
bill is known as "Bill 96" and the main proponent is Minority
Leader Edcel Lagman of Albay. The RH bill is based on the premise
that the country's population growth impedes economic
development. The bill seeks to “guarantee to universal access to
medically-safe, legal, affordable and quality reproductive health
care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant
information." The bill also seeks a “consistent and coherent
national population policy," citing studies that show that "rapid
population growth exacerbates poverty while poverty spawns rapid
population growth." Contentious issue The RH bill has been a
contentious issue in the country because it pits two powerful
sectors against each other: prolife groups (such as Catholic and
Muslim groups opposing the RH bill) and prochoice groups (led by
non-government organizations supporting the RH bill). It is
estimated that 80 percent of the country's population are
baptized Catholics. According to the National Statistics Office,
there were 88.57 million Filipinos as of August 2007. The
projected population for 2010 is 94.01 million. The Catholic
Church promotes only natural family planning and is opposed to
the use of artificial birth control methods such as condoms and
birth-control pills, saying these could lead to promiscuity and a
rise in abortion cases. RH advocates say natural family planning
methods have not proven to be as reliable as artificial means of
birth control. The Catholic Church accepts only natural family
planning (NFP) methods. The NFP has two distinct forms:
*Ecological breastfeeding (a form of child care that normally
spaces babies about two years apart on the average)
*Systematic NFP (a system that uses a woman’s signs of fertility
to determine the fertile and infertile times of her cycle)
Oppositors not disheartened Oppositors of RH bill in the House
of Representatives, meanwhile, were not disheartened by the
result of Pulse Asia survey. In a text message, Bacolod City Rep.
Anthony Golez said the survey only showed that 69 percent of
Filipinos are not informed about the danger of the health
services the RH bill will offer to the people. He claimed that
more than half of the services the bill offers were
"abortifacients" or substances that induce abortion. Paranaque
Rep. Roilo Golez, for his part, asked how the public could have
an informed opinion on a bill they have not read. “I understand
at least 90 percent of the folks have not read the RH bill. How
can someone who has not read the bill have an informed opinion on
the bill?" he said. Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles wondered if
the public actually agrees with all provisions of the RH bill or
just the concept. “If I ask you if you believe that our
population must be properly managed, you would probably say yes,
the concept of it sounds wise. But if I say that our population
should be managed by committing abortion, you will probably give
a different answer," he said in a text message. “Surveys are just
tools. They do not provide absolute answers to complex social
questions," he added. – with Amita O.
Legaspi/VVP/RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV

Source: Montenegro, C. (2010, November 30). Pulse Asia survey:

69% of Filipinos agree with RH bill. Retrieved from
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/207185/
pulse-asia-survey-69-of-filipinos-agree-with-rh-
bill/story/

Title: Pulse Asia survey: 69% of Filipinos agree with RH bill

Population: 55.72 million (voting population as of 2010)

Sample: 1,200 representative adults

Data Gathered:
Age: 18 years and above (quantitative)
Opinion: (qualitative)
Results of the Data Collected (out of 1,200 sample):
- 69% of those surveyed agree with the RH bill;
- 7% opposed the RH bill;
- 24% were undecided;