A GOVERNMENT official is hopeful that the implant contraceptive Implanon will be released once the temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court will be lifted.
Once lifted, the procurement, sale and distribution of the implant contraceptive will allow women of Benguet "to enjoy sex and life at their prime," Vice Governor Florence Tingbaoen said.
Tingbaoen said women in the province are already weary of taking pills, injectables and ligation as family planning methods.
“It is time for women to enjoy sex and life at their prime... Benguet women are ready for this,” said the Benguet official.
The vice governor added women in the province have been using these family planning methods for years, much to their discomfort and anxiety while Implanon will free women of discomfort and stress.
Implanon is one of the contraceptive implants ordered banned by the Supreme Court from being "procured, sold, distributed, dispensed or administered" after it was considered to be abortifacient.
The other one is Implanon NXT.
Implanon, is a birth control implant described as "a tiny, thin rod about the size of a matchstick which is inserted as an implant under the skin of your upper arm. It releases the hormone progestin to stop you from getting pregnant."
In 2015, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order that stopped the distribution of some P350 million worth of contraceptive implants including Implanon and Implanon NXT.
Regional director Rosa Fortaleza of the Population Commission of the Cordillera region said the ban stops the government from acquiring family planning items which ideally is supplied to public hospitals and health centers.
“This is a big factor, paano kung maubos na ang mga at hand na commodities?” the Popcom official noted.
Fortaleza said the commission hopes the Duterte administration works out the full implementation of the Responsible Health Act or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law (RH Law).
Benguet has passed and is implementing the responsible parenthood and reproductive health code in 2015 and has been made a model for this cause.
The province will also create a provincial advocacy team which will handle advocacy activities of the code. It will also coordinate with the Philippine Philippine Legislators Committee for Population and Development (PLCPD).
Ifugao Representative Teddy Brawner Baguilat also pushed for the immediate implementation of the RH Law asserting that the delay has already caused serious public health problems.
Baguilat cited findings by the PLCPD, which said that five years after the landmark legislation was enacted, it continues to face serious challenges such as uneven implementation at the local level, rise in serious adolescent reproductive health problems, lack of public awareness, insufficient funding and even legal barriers.
Enacted in December 2012, the landmark law has four key provisions: access to family planning, maternal healthcare, age-appropriate sexuality and reproductive health education and regular funding.