Miriam calls P1-billion budget cut on contraceptives 'immoral'

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Friday said the P1-billion budget cut on contraceptives under the Reproductive Health (RH) Law is "immoral."

"The P1-billion budget cut threatens to deprive some 7 million women of reproductive health services. This abandonment is immoral in a country where some 200 out of 100,000 women who give birth die," the senator said.

In its bicameral conference for the P3-trillion 2016 budget, Congress decided to slash the budget for contraceptives under the RH Law in favor of funding the assets upgrade of the Department of National Defense.

Santiago, who is running for president, voted for the passage of the law in 2012. She said it is irreconcilable that Congress, which enacted the RH Law, would render the same law inutile three years after.

"The enemies of reproductive health never sleep. We, too, must not rest in fighting for women’s health," she said.