Pinoy Pro-Life Groups ponder mass actions vs condom ads

Alarmed by the seeming public apathy over their advocacy to ban the airing of commercial advertisements over mass media, pro-life groups in the Philippines are preparing to take their cause to the streets to drum up greater awareness and support.

"It's time we take to the streets and undertake mass actions to press our cause," said Rene Josef C. Bullecer, a medical doctor who is concurrently country director of Human Life International-Pilipinas (HLI-Pilipinas) and national director for AIDS-Free Philippines (AFP) during the Friday edition of Mediakonek, a press forum hosted by the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC).

In a joint press statement distributed to media after the forum, AFP claimed "The advertisement of condoms and contraceptives on the Philippine television and radio runs counter to the gains we have achieved through these years.

Although the first confirmed case of AIDS in the Philippines was reported in May, 1984, the statement said that as of January 31, 2008, only a total of 3,119 HIV and AIDS cases have been reported in the country, allegedly one of the lowest cases of HIV/AIDS in Asia. The statement failed to cite the sources for the figures.

"Since the government has not planned anything for National Pro-Life Week, we took it upon ourselves to launch this campaign to ban commercial ads for condoms and contraceptives over mass media," Bullecer said. "This is against the constitution, the KBP Code, our cultural and religious tradition."

Bullecer further cited that contrary to the claims of condom manufacturers and health officials, condoms are not effective and have a 65% failure rate, the cause of which he demonstrated to media with the use of a model penis.

The petition to ban condom and contraceptive ads over mass media was submitted last January 21, 2008 by HLI, FMAF, and other pro-life groups to the Advertising Board, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), among others.

In the ensuing lively discussion actively participated by the media men present, the group said that in the absence of a proven vaccine or cure against HIV/AIDS, "Abstinence and Chastity" are still the "best proven and most effective weapons" against it.

"Statistics have shown that in countries where condoms are freely advertised and made available to the public, particularly among teenagers, the number and cases of both Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV have skyrocketed to very alarming rates, the statement continued. However, no official figures or sources of data were again cited by the group except to say that this is particularly true in Thailand where HIV/AIDS is now an epidemic.

"We likewise call on the general public, particularly the parents to stand up and using the strongest words possible, make their voices be heard against these very unscrupulous groups and agencies who are conniving to destroy the very moral fiber of society, the statement concluded.

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