Cabral, RH advocates to stage rally vs anti-condom ordinance

MANILA, Philippines -  Reproductive health and human rights advocates, among them former health secretary Esperanza Cabral, will hold a rally in the upscale Ayala Alabang barangay this morning just before a public hearing on the village’s controversial anti-contraceptive ordinance.

In an interview with The STAR, Cabral could not give an estimate as to how many will join the rally but said “these are the people who are very concerned with the Ayala Alabang ordinance because they saw the national implication of such a repressive and illegal ordinance.”

Muntinlupa City police chief Superintendent Eleazar Matta told The STAR that the rally will be at 8 a.m. at the corner of Commerce and Madrigal Avenues. Cabral, a resident of the village, said she was just informed of the event yesterday. It will be spearheaded by the Reproductive Health Action Network, she said.

The public hearing on the controversial Ayala Alabang ordinance on contraceptives has been set this morning. Barangay chairman Alfred Burgos Jr. said it will be held at the De la Salle Zobel gymnasium at 9 a.m. Everyone is welcome to participate to air their opinion on the ordinance, said Mayor Aldrin San Pedro.

Ayala Alabang councilmen passed last January an ordinance banning the purchase of condoms without a proper medical prescription. Dubbed as “Unborn Child Ordinance of 2011,” the ordinance also banned any form of advertisements promoting contraceptives.

Educational institutions were also prohibited from teaching compulsory sex education without prior consultation and written permission from the parents or guardians of minor students in public and private schools.

The ordinance, however, was remanded back to barangay level by the city council’s health committee after some of its provisions were found in conflict with national laws.