An Assessment of National-Level Governance of the Philippines' Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law: Trends and Ways Forward ; PIDS: Discussion Paper Series ; No. 2021-09

In: http://hdl.handle.net/11540/13314

Abstract

In 2012, the Philippines passed the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Act. The law aimed to educate and empower Filipinos to make choices regarding their reproductive health (RH), improve the lives of families, and promote sustainable human development. Key to realizing this vision, was multisectoral coordination among national government agencies (NGAs), local government units and non-state actors. Given its wide scope, understanding the progress made by the RPRH Law requires an acknowledgement of the many movers that set its machinery in motion. In this paper, we analyzed the governance role played by NGAs in the implementation of the RPRH Law over the last eight years. We focused on nine components of governance, namely, Organizational Presence, Policy Infrastructure, Financing, Human Resources, Stewardship, Coordination, Monitoring & Evaluation, and Accountability, in their RPRH activities. While NGAs had accomplished or at least begun to accomplish most of their mandates and responsibilities, performance was siloed within implementing units of agencies, with modest interagency coordination. Despite the vision for multisectoral RH services, programs focused on biomedical and healthcare interventions, particularly in the area of family planning. Moreover, national-level governance for RPRH implementation focused on specific programs and their operational concerns. Fragmented governance activities result from a lack of integrated plans and coordination mechanisms in the nine governance components to bridge NGAs' efforts across sectors.