BAGUIO CITY – Over 300 population volunteers and officers from the 27 towns of Abra are expected to undergo training on the intensified implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) programs in Vigan, Ilocos Sur from Sept. 25 to 27.
The two-day event by the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) – Cordillera will orient government population officers and workers and barangay volunteers on their roles in the recently relaunched intensified implementation of the National Program on Population and Family Planning (NPPFP) as well as their target deliverables.
Regional Program Coordinator Mary Cerezo on Friday said participants will be trained on the different family planning methods including debunking myths and misconceptions as well as gathering field data.
“The core is teaching them how to re-echo in their communities what responsible parenthood is,” Cerezo said.
Responsible parenthood is the capacity of parents to provide the various needs of the family and ensure their children will be healthy and be able to achieve their wellbeing and aspirations, she added.
Cerezo said this can be achieved through family planning (FP).
The trained barangay population volunteers (BPVs) will augment the recently deployed project coordinators of Popcom – Cordillera, in close coordination with government population officers and rural health units.
The volunteers act as change agents in the communities they serve by providing information and education on responsible parenthood and family planning. They will also be given modest financial assistance.
Individuals interested in volunteering for the program can contact their local population officers or designated in-charge at rural health units.
Popcom – Cordillera Regional Director Magdalena Abellera said speeding up the intensified implementation of the NPPFP at the local level through demand generation and provision of family planning services is a vital strategy to reduce unplanned pregnancies, maternal and infant death, and as economic strategy to reduce poverty.
Abellera said this enables couples and individuals to achieve their desired number, timing and spacing of children within the context of responsible parenthood.
The strengthened program approach is in response to achieving the goals of Executive Order (EO) on “Zero Unmet Need for Family Planning” which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on January 2017.
The EO defines ‘unmet need’ as “couples and women who are fecund and sexually active and want to limit or space their children but are not using any modern method of contraception.”**
