UP professor emeritus on the RH bill

As a rejoinder to our column last week on the RH bill, Dr. Ramon F. Abarquez Jr., a highly esteemed professor emeritus at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and a distinguished academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology, e-mailed me his personal views on the current furor regarding the controversial bill. His arguments are all evidence-based with detailed data to back up his arguments. It is a thorough scientific dissertation in itself, but for lack of space, we can’t print it in full. I had taken the liberty to excerpt Professor Abarquez’s personal take on the RH bill.

“Poor health and lack of sanitation in the marginalized or informal settlers’ overpopulated areas is the problem intended to be addressed by the RH bill. Singapore, for one, would not need the RH bill. Just look around the squatters’ sites in our country, one can picture the relevance of the rubbish-filth-malnourished issues. Undernourished mothers giving birth to low birth weight infants contribute to higher mortality rates that can be related to such poor health and unsanitary habitat. Obviously, these deprived population need education, economic support, and free but democratic access to family planning options, the hallmark of the government RH bill. More importantly, the material and unbiased medico-ethnographic problem is the rapidly occurring population explosion within our midst and time.

“Should ‘sex education’ be given at the elementary school level? Rather than speculate on the merits or controversy attendant to such sex educational value needs what is the scientific evidence? Anecdotal, speculative or personal experience is ‘eminence-based’ opinion. Evidence-based data came from an article, (published in the American Journal of Public Health. 2009 August; 99(8): 1438–1445) as the first scientifically designed study that was performed in three Hawaiian Islands (kindergarten to fifth or sixth grade) schools. Beets et al. assessed the five years effectiveness of a comprehensive elementary school-based program designed to prevent substance use, violent behaviors and sexual activity by using a matched-pair, cluster-randomized, controlled design in 10 intervention and 10 control schools.

Papi

“Fifth-graders (n = 1714) self-reported on lifetime substance use, violence and sexual activities. Teachers of the participant students (n = 1225) analyzed the students’ substance use and violence report. The “Positive Action Program Intervention” (Papi) followed students who were in their 1st or 2nd grade at baseline (2001–2002 academic year) and who stayed in the study schools through 5th grade (2005–2006 academic year for the 1st-grade cohort, and the 2004-2005 academic year for the 2nd-grade cohort). The program encourages teacher-student interaction, structured or semi-structured small-group activities and principals at each participating school to promote the core elements of the Papi classroom curriculum.

“Lessons in the Papi include: ‘Self-concept, mind and body positive actions (e.g., nutrition, physical activity, decision-making skills, motivation to learn), social and emotional actions for managing oneself responsibly (e.g., emotion regulation, time management), getting along with others (e.g., empathy, respect, treating others as one would like to be treated), being honest with yourself and others, and self-improvement (e.g., goal-setting, courage to try new things, persistence).’

“Students exposed to the Papi, for at least three years, had significantly lower rates of all negative behaviors, i.e. 41 percent to 73 percent fewer experiences with substance use and violent behaviors and an 89-percent lower rate of engaging in voluntary sexual activity than did students who received less Papi exposure. Reductions were still observed for Papi students exposed for one or two years. Interestingly, students whose parents provided active consent and students who did not receive active parental consent showed no significant differences.

“Therefore, scientifically designed, directed, structured and well-planned behavioral and gender values are at best given in school with or even without parental consent. The fact that students are enrolled in school is a tacit parent approval of the curriculum. Should teachers and principals be required to ask permission for every subject matter to be taught in school?

“Finally, the RH bill should be enacted into law; it can be a panacea for the majority poor.”