Schools, companies, volunteers capacitated on Family Planning

BUTUAN CITY, Aug. 14 -- Effort of the Commission on Population to popularize family planning program has been fruitful when representatives from the private companies, faculty members and guidance counselors of the different colleges and universities in Butuan and Agusan provinces completed the three-day Family Planning Technology and Interpersonal Communication and Counseling Training recently. 

As part of the program thrusts along Responsible Parenthood and Family Planning, POPCOM capacitated the participants on the different natural and artificial Family Planning Methods. 

In the closing ceremonies, one of the participants expressed her appreciation to POPCOM for the new knowledge on family planning. She assured that a re-echo to her co-teachers will be conducted soonest. 

Mr. Alexander A. Makinano, the Officer-In-Charge of POPCOM, underscored that aside from the family planning, participants were also trained on the interpersonal communication and counseling in facilitating behavioral change on family planning. 

The Center for Health Development extended the financial support to POPCOM in capacitating the different stakeholders of the program region-wide. 

The same training will be conducted in Surigao City on August 28 – 30 to be attended by the guidance counselors and private companies in the Provinces of Surigao and Dinagat Islands, including Surigao City. 

Meanwhile, the second batch of convention for Barangay Service Point Officers (BSPOs) will be conducted in Surigao City this coming on August 16. It can be recalled that the BSPOs for Butuan City and Agusan Provinces convened on July 9,2013 at Provincial Training Center of Agusan del Norte. (Angie Balen-Antonio, POPCOM-13/PIA-Caraga) 

Government intensifies Family Planning

BUTUAN CITY, Aug. 14 -- The government’s goal to achieve a better quality of life for every Filipino family may reach another height as the country celebrates this August the Family Planning Month. 

This year’s theme “Planuhin ang Pamilya Para sa Magandang Kinabukasan” is the focus of the campaign done through the Responsible Parenting - Family Planning (RP-FP) classes at the grassroots. 

As reported by the Provincial/City Population Officers in the region, there are already 164,031 couples who attended the RP-FP classes since its inception in 2007. 

“RP - FP is now integrated in the Family Development Session of the Pantawid Pamilya of Department of Social Welfare & Development (DSWD)”, said Mr. Alexander A. Makinano, Officer-In-Charge of POPCOM-Caraga. 

Mr. Makinano further mentioned that planning the size and number of children in the family is a shared responsibility between husband and wife. 

In another development, the Commission on Population together with the Department of Health and the Local Government Units unified their efforts to provide couples with the comprehensive family planning information and services particularly to women with unmet need for family planning – or those currently married women 15 – 49 years old who do not want any more children or want to space births but are not using any family planning method. 

In Caraga, 20 in every 100 married women of reproductive age or 20.4% have unmet need for family planning as revealed in the 2011 Family Health Survey. 

This group of women is the priority target of the government’s Family Planning Program to help them achieve their desired number of children. (Angie Balen-Antonio, POPCOM-13/PIA-Caraga)