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Breastfeeding advocates say no to 'Milk Monster Bill'


The breastfeeding issue has five faces, and she embodied them all: a mother, a father, an employer, a doctor and, at the back of her head like a parasite, a milk company executive who wants to advertise to new mothers. Lorena Rivera, a former wet nurse, has taken to performing mimes that illustrate the hardships encountered by breastfeeding mothers, and how they are “bombarded on all sides by discouragements and misinformation.” Rivera and other breastfeeding advocates came together Wednesday to denounce the proposed House bill “An Act Promoting a Comprehensive Program on Breastfeeding Practices and Regulating the Trade, Marketing and Promotions of Certain Foods for Infants and Young Children,” which they have dubbed the "Milk Monster Bill." Ines Fernandez, lead convener of the Save the Babies Coalition, said the Milk Monster Bill is a consolidation of four bills authored by Reps. Magtanggol Gunigundo II, Josephine Veronique Lacson-Noel, Lani Mercado-Revilla, Lucy Torres-Gomez and Rufus Rodriguez. The proposed bill undermines breastfeeding and indulges milk manufacturers, Fernandez said. “The true intention of the ‘Breastfeeding Promotion and Infant Formula Regulation Act’ is to water down the Milk Code,” she added. The Milk Code, or Executive Order 51, promotes the practice of breastfeeding and regulates the marketing of breast milk substitutes and supplements. This is why Fernandez, along with several other volunteers of Arugaan, a non-government organization and home center that advocates exclusive breastfeeding, have conceptualized a routine that seeks to educate while entertaining the mothers. “Pag pine-perform ko naman yung mime sa mga nanay, naiiyak talaga sila,” Rivera said of her routine, a five-minute mix of pop songs and interpretative dance that appeals to mothers. Learning from experience As a young mother, Rivera started with breastfeeding for her first child, but switched to infant formula after seeing the advertisements. “Nakikita ko sa mga patalastas, yung mga babies sa TV, ang ku-cute at ang tataba talaga, kaya na-engganyo ako, nagtry ako,” she said. But then, she said, she saw how her baby's health deteriorated. “Nagstart siyang maging sipunin, tapos napunta na sa bronchopneumonia. Lumaki yung gastos ko, kaya bumalik ako sa pagbe-breastfeed,” she said. And she stuck to it, breastfeeding her succeeding two children completely. Rivera said she wanted to help young mothers avoid the mistake she made. In her performance she first dances through the motions of a working mother who, in addition to work, goes home to prepare dinner and clean house before finally taking care of her baby. And then she proceeds to depict how a father can be swayed by advertisements; how an employer can be ignorant of the benefits a breastfeeding mother should have; how doctors are meant to explain the benefits of breastfeeding; and how milk companies lure mothers into giving their young children formula milk through flashy advertisements. “Ganito yung way ko para i-spread yung advocacy ko,” said Rivera. She added that the mime is meant to convey a message of support to mothers, and be a wake-up call to those on the fence about breastfeeding. Proposed provisions The Breastfeeding Promotion and Infant Formula Regulation Act will allow milk companies to promote their products intended for children over six months, conduct promotion on breastfeeding and child care, place health and nutritional claims on their products, and donate infant formula in times of disaster and calamities. Fernandez reiterates that all those provisions are prohibited under the Milk Code. “I really think this is a case of misinformation. These representatives signed on because they were not aware of the repercussions of the bill,” said Rep. Walden Belo of his 205 colleagues who have attached their signatures to the bill. “Pag narinig mo nga naman yung ‘Promoting a Comprehensive Program on Breastfeeding Practices’ sa title, di ba ang gandang pakinggan?’ Pero hindi talaga eh. Mapaglinlang yung title,” said Fernandez. AKBAYAN, Bello’s party-list group, also released a statement in support of the breastfeeding advocates, extolling the health and economic benefits of breastfeeding. “Breastfeeding is still best for babies, not only health-wise, but also budget-wise,” it said. Senator Pia Cayetano, author of the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act or RA 10028, which gave breastfeeding mothers other benefits such as the right to express their milk in the office and get paid lactation breaks, also opposes the proposed bill at the lower house. Cayetano said she has studied all existing breastfeeding policies in the country, and the proposed bill will harm rather then help mothers. “[T]his measure cannot be counted as pro-breastfeeding, pro-mother and pro-child because it diminishes the existing benefits that have already been accorded to mothers as breastfeeding mothers,” she said in a statement. Responding to recent events in the country, particularly the strong monsoon rains that have cause incessant flooding in the country, the Save the Babies Coalition also slammed the donation of milk products to evacuation centers, saying it was a “marketing trap.” “Donating artificial milk products during emergency or in times of crisis in the guise of charity is a public relations media act for multinational milk companies,” it said. - BM, GMA News

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