Duterte on RPRH Law: I am for giving Filipino families the freedom to decide

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday voiced once more his wish for the Responsible Parenting and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law to be implemented.

During his second State of the Nation Address (SONA), Duterte said that he may not personally support the use of birth control or the legalization of abortion, but he wants Filipinos to have the freedom to choose the size of their families.

"I am not for abortion, I am not for birth control, but certainly I am for giving freedom to Filipinos to decide the size ng pamilya nila...how many children will they be able to support and send to school," he said.

Last year, during his first SONA, Duterte said that the RPRH Law "must be put into full force and effect, so that couples, especially the poor, would have freedom of informed choice on the number and spacing of children they can adequately care and provide for, eventually making them more productive members of the labor force."

READ: Duterte's first SONA, one year later: Universal health care and the RPRH Law

On Monday, the President also expressed his frustration at the Supreme Court's temporary restraining order on contraceptives, which is preventing the procurement and distribution of certain contraceptives.

He said that the RPRH Law was already passed and it needs to be implemented to ensure the practice of family planning.

"Itong Congress na to passed the Reproduction Law...dapat i-implement because they are going into family planning," he said.

"TRO would delay the projects... yang TRO na iyan is the bane of our efficiency," he added.

In June 2015, the Supreme Court imposed a temporary restraining order on the procurement and distribution of hormonal contraceptive implants Implanon and Implanon NXT, and later expanded the TRO to cover other contraceptives.

Earlier this year, it rejected an appeal to lift the restraining order.

The TRO has also prohibited the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from issuing new certificates of product registration (CPR) for contraceptives. — BM, GMA News