On Valentine’s Day, Philippine Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral ordered the distribution of condoms to couples on a street in Metro Manila where they sold flowers. Cabral said it was part of the program of the Department of Health to stem the increase of HIV/AIDS in the country.

The next day, three bishops belonging to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines demanded her resignation, one of them saying that it was “immoral for someone in the government to be pushing the use of condoms, which we all know is not a detThe bishops offered that the way to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS “was to follow the teachings of the Church and to respect the sanctity of the human body.” Cabral, who is the first major government official to defy the powerful Roman Catholic Church on the issue of contraceptives, countered that the Church should respect the constitutional provision on the separation of Church and State.

Cabral added that while it is the moral responsibility of the Church to guard the morality of the people, it is the duty of the health department to protect the health of the people.

Apparently, the Church has failed in its responsibility to guard the morals of the people. Otherwise, not that many Filipinos would have engaged in premarital and extra-marital sex, which have been cited as a major reason for the spread of HIV/AIDS in the first place.

If the Church cannot perform its responsibility to guard the morals of the people, it should at least allow the Department of Health to perform its duty to protect the health of the people. The Church must come down from its ivory tower and begin to wake up to the realities of life. The fact is HIV/AIDS is spreading in epidemic proportions in the country, and something must be done immediately other than preaching the people “to respect the sanctity of the body.”

Cabral said the people should be alarmed at the rapidly escalating incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country. “From an incidence of one person diagnosed every day as having HIV-AIDS two or three years ago, last year we were diagnosing two persons [with] HIV-AIDS every day,” she said adding that during the past two months, the number of HIV-AIDS cases has risen to four persons diagnosed with the disease daily.

With that rate, from the present total of 4,400 cases of HIV-AIDS known to the government, by the end of the year, that would be 8,800, she said. “If the doubling rate remains stable, at the end of 2011, that’s going to be 17,600. At the end of 2011, that’s going to be 34,400.”

But by the way the Church has arrogantly stood pat on its “no contraceptive” policy on the issue of the alarming rise in population, I doubt if it would even listen to what Cabral is saying.

Because of the fear of a backlash from the powerful Roman Catholic Church, most government officials and politicians have conveniently ignored the facts that the government can hardly provide the basic services required by a population of 92 million that continues to rise at the rate of 2.04 percent annually, and that HIV/AIDS is becoming an epidemic in the country.

As a result, the government has not allocated funds for the purchase of condoms and other contraceptives, or for any kind of population program. The DOH has had to rely on meager amounts from international agencies, such as the Global Fund for the Control of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Bill Gates Foundation, the US Agency for International Development, and the World Health Organization.

Obviously irked by the bishops’ condemnation and a scolding from fellow Cabinet member Undersecretary Ricardo Saludo, who told her to consult with the President or the Cabinet before implementing a major policy move -- can you imagine a ranking government official classifying the distribution of condoms on a Metro Manila street as a major policy move? – Cabral responded to the criticisms by declaring that the DOH would, in addition to condoms, also distribute contraceptive pills to couples “who need them.”

Now that’s what we call a courageous and committed government official, one who does not kowtow to lobby groups nor allow herself to be bullied by those powerful bishops. If any of those 10 presidential candidates can emulate Cabral, we should support that candidate. So far, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Jr. has remained steadfast in his support for the Reproductive Health Bill that has been pending in Congress for years.

If he eventually gives in to the demands of the Roman Catholic Church that he abandon his support for population control, as many have predicted, I guess we just have to wait for Cabral to declare her candidacy in 2016.
(valabelgas@aol.com)