Friday, January 12, 2007 San Fernando backs responsible parenting
THE City Government of San Fernando, headed by Mayor Oscar Rodriguez, has expressed full support to the "Responsible Parenting Movement (RPM)" being propagated by the Commission on Population (PopCom) and the Department of Health (DOH) Center for Health Development in Central Luzon.
Hosting the launching of the program recently, Rodriguez said the movement is an indication of the "government's serious effort to bring into the children's consciousness that they are loved and wanted by their parents."
The RPM envisions mobilizing parents at the grassroots level for them to consider responsible parenting as a way of life towards the attainment of sustainable development.
Part of the RPM is the holding of responsible parenting classes in target barangays. Each class, with an eight-hour session, will provide married couples with adequate knowledge on the concepts, values and practice of responsible parenting, family relationships and home management; fertility awareness; and methods on natural family planning such as lactational amennorhea, cervical mucus, standard days, symptomthermal and basal body temperature.
The target married couples are those of child-bearing age who want to practice birth spacing through natural family planning and are willing to recruit other couples to become members of the movement.
Rodriguez said responsible parenting necessitates proper way of taking care of one's children as he stressed that the challenge for the RPM's stakeholders is how to reach the target families and be able to lead them in the right direction for them to take responsibilities seriously.
He also commended the PopCom for initiating the movement and encouraging partner agencies to conduct "timely and much-needed advocacy activities."
The launch was attended by personalities, organizations and offices like the Association of Government Information Officers of Central Luzon (AGIOCL), Central Luzon Interfaith Group (Clig), Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP), Provincial City Population Officers League (PCPOL) and Solidarity of Advocates for Family Enlightenment on Family Planning (SAFEFP); the education and social welfare departments; the Philippine Information Agency (PIA); and media partners.
"Parenting is a serious responsibility because if you fail to perform your duty as a parent, the entire family is affected," Rodriguez said.
"A child, as he grows, must be guided with love and care, and of course in addition to this, they should be provided with the basic needs like food, shelter and clothing," he added. (ABL)
