PopCom Eastern Visayas educates 52,000 couples on responsible parenthood

TACLOBAN CITY, Oct. 17 (PNA) – The Commission on Population (PopCom) regional office here has already reached out to 52,000 couples in Eastern Visayas, in a bid to educate couples on responsible parenting.

For the first three quarters of 2016, the agency almost surpassed the more than 54,000 couples in the region listed in this advocacy last year.

About 17 percent of them received family planning services through the Department of Health, said PopCom Regional Director Elnora Pulma.

PopCom organizes its classes in the village level in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries as participants.

The designated local population workers in different towns conduct the classes and the volunteer workers follow-up the couples who need clinical services under family planning program.

During the family development sessions conducted by the DSWD, ample information on responsible parenting and family planning modules are shared to participants.

The agency expects that participants would be equipped with comprehensive information by the end of sessions.

“If the population management is good, the development is also good since they can help on our country’s development,” Pulma said.

Responsible parenthood, as defined in PopCom’s directional plan, is the will and ability of parents to respond to the needs and aspirations of the family and children.

“It is a shared responsibility of the husband and the wife to determine and achieve the desired number, spacing, and timing of their children according to their own family life aspirations, taking into account psychological preparedness, health status, socio-cultural, and economic concerns.” (PNA)

FPV/SQM/DANICA-ANN M. ULTADO, LNU INTERN/EGR