SOCIOECONOMIC PLANNING Secretary Ernest M. Pernia revealed that the government has already directed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June “to finish the certification” on two contraceptives, the distribution of which are the subject of a temporary restraining order (TRO) by the Supreme Court (SC). Speaking at a roundtable session with BusinessWorld last Friday, Mr. Pernia said, “So the process now is, I think the FDA will finish certifying by the middle of August. To be followed by public hearing.” President Rodrigo R. Duterte, in his 2nd State of the Nation Address last July 24, lamented that TROs “have become the bane of the government,” citing that on the contraceptives, which he thought covered the entire Reproductive Health (RH) Law. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno later issued a statement clarifying that the TRO does not apply to the whole RH Law, but only on the “two specific contraceptives… Implanon and Implanon NXT.” — Kristine Joy V. Patag

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