Open Letter for the Proper Implementation of RA 8504

Grief is never itself a cure. The National Epidemiology Center of the Department of Health reports 52 HIV Ab seropositive cases at the HIV and AIDS Registry in February this year. This is a staggering 126% increase in the number of reported cases compared to the same period last year. From January 1984 to February 2008, there were 3,153 HIV Ab seropositive cases reported, of which 2,366 (75%) were asymptomatic and 787 (25%) were AIDS cases. Of the 787 AIDS cases, 308 had already died at the time of reporting. These are grieving realities that cannot sit in judgment any longer.

With this exacerbating condition, government legislation had taken positive steps to address the problem through the Republic Act No. 8504 or Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998—an act that was seen to develop a compassionate and enabling environment by instituting nationwide HIV/AIDS Information and Educational Programs that shall be carried out in all schools and training centers, workplaces and communities. It stated that Department of Education “shall integrate instruction on the causes, modes of transmission, and ways of preventing HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases in subjects taught in public and private schools at intermediate grades, secondary and tertiary level, including non-formal and indigenous learning systems.” The act had been cited by the UNAIDS as one of the best practices in the national HIV/AIDS prevention strategies. However, progressive and proactive measures do not end in legislation alone. Proper implementation is just as crucial.

In this vein, the University of the Philippines-Diliman University Student Council (UPD-USC) calls the attention of the administrative offices concerned.

To the UP Administration, we demand that such HIV/AIDS Information and Education Programs be explicitly incorporated in the courses, if not in the curricula offered by the university. Recognizing the insufficient or even lack of integration of these programs in the existing courses by which HIV/AIDS education may be relevant, we call for better quality and greater scope of intervention by the UP administration as far as this directive is concerned. This we ask as a minimum compliance to the AIDS law.

To the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education, we appeal to the very principles, objectives and functions by which these institutions are founded. We call for the strict and precise implementation of the guidelines, procedures and standards prepared and issued by the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC), as the body mandated to oversee this integrated and comprehensive approach to HIV/AIDS prevention and control in the Philippines.

USC acknowledges the growing HIV/AIDS problem in the Philippines and we believe that education is an extremely decisive tool in mitigating, if not at all obliterating the problem at its core. We recognize that through education, one is imbued with desirable health values and decision making skills indispensable to AIDS prevention and control. And ultimately through education, one is afforded by the capacity to develop a mature, rational, and responsible disposition on the issue—one basic thing that is given due confidence and conviction by no less than the law of the land.

This statement was prepared by the Gender Committee of the University Student Council.