TACLOBAN CITY- An official of the Population Commission and Development is hopeful that Congress will approve a measure making it mandatory for all local government units (LGUs) to create their local population development offices.
The said bill, principally authored Laguna Rep. Sol Aragones, is still pending at the committee level of the House of Representatives.
Undersecretary Antonio Lopez, who was in Tacloban City last week, said that once the measure will be enacted by Congress, it would now be mandatory for all LGUs to create the local population development office.
Lopez said that under the Local Government Code of 1992, LGUs are given the option whether to create such an office or not.
Thus, it’s the reason why only a few of LGUs have a population development office, he said.
Lopez also pointed out that barangay service point officers (BSPOs), the front liners in the delivery of population-related programs in the villages, have also became limited.
As of today, there are only 9,000 active BSPOs serving in the country.
The agency only has 2,000 local population officers and workers in the country.
Lopez said that two weeks ago, he had a meeting with Rep.Aragones, the main author of the proposed bill, who vowed to work hard so that the measure would be approved by next year.
Still, Lopez said that even if the bill has yet to be approved by Congress, he personally coordinates with the Regional Development Councils (RDCs) and encourage them to create population and development offices voluntarily so that the Department of Health will have the necessary support to promote health, family planning and other related policies.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

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