MANILA, Philippines — Opposition Sen. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros on Thursday criticized President Rodrigo Duterte over his recent statement advising Filipinos to adopt birth control methods to prevent unwanted pregnancies but not use condoms because these are not gratifying.
“Hindi masarap kapag may condom [It’s not pleasurable if there’s condom]? President Duterte seems to be overly concerned with pleasure. There is nothing pleasurable or funny about the rise in our cases of HIV and teen pregnancy,” said Hontiveros in a statement.
On Tuesday night, while welcoming some 150 overseas Filipino workers, who were repatriated from Kuwait, the President advised his mostly female audience to avail themselves of reproductive health services from the government.
But Duterte also dissuaded them from using condom because “hindi masarap ‘yang condom [because condom isn’t pleasurable].”
Then the chief executive brought out a piece of candy to explain to the crowd why condom isn’t sexually gratifying.
“Ito, kainin mo ‘to, ‘wag mong balatan…Kainin mo. Ayan ang condom [Here, try eating it without unwrapping it…Eat it. That’s what a condom is like],” said Duterte.
But Hontiveros didn’t find the President’s condom demo funny.
“By disapproving of condoms as a safe and reliable form of contraception, the President is denying the public the widest array of options to plan their families, protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases, and curb the growing number of teenage pregnancies,” the lawmaker said.
Also, Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, pointed out that the President’s “public disapproval of condoms also put the burden of family planning on women.”
“The President’s statement is a virtual insistence that women should continue to carry the burden of family planning alone,” she said.
“This contradicts one of the aims of the Reproductive Health Law, which he claims to champion, to ensure equality in responsibility as far as family is concerned.”
“This is unacceptable. Men must also do their share and be at par with women in sharing our family planning duty,” added Hontiveros.