Sotto hits funds for contraceptives
By Jason de Asis

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, November 29, 2010-Majority Floor Leader Vicente C. Sotto III remains his position on the issue of the government allocating funds for contraceptives saying that spending almost P900 million of taxpayers’ money for acquisition of various forms of contraceptives are still unreasonable for him.
He added that it would be more unreasonable to approve it if the implementing agency cannot even justify the program.
The Senator seeks to elucidate Malacanang on the issue of allocating funds for contraceptives and clarified that he is not blocking the entire P32.7 billion budget of the Department of Health.
“I am not out to be an obstructionist, ” he said, adding that what he raised on the floor during the budget deliberations was the rationale behind the appropriation of funds for acquisition of contraceptives which the DOH could not explain.
DOH officials said that the P880 million will be spent on population control and contraceptives, which he is totally against.
Sotto said that instead of putting him in a bad light, why don’t they just come clean and justify the need for such program? Records of the Senate proceedings would bear him out on this. (Jason de Asis)