OPINION NO. 151, 1983, Republic of the Philippines

OPINION NO. 151, 1983

Date:    October 5, 1983

Source:    Department of Justice

Subject:    "Comments and Recommendations on the Legality of the Proposed Guidelines on the Certification of Trained Non-Medical Workers in Pill Dispensing" which the Commission on Population (POPCOM) has drafted.

Text:

This refers to your request for "comments and recommendations’ on the legality of the proposed guidelines on the "Certification of Trained Non-Medical Workers in Pill Dispensing which the Commission on Population (POPCOM) has drafted.

You stated that Presidential Decree No. 79 has mandated the POPCOM to "make available all acceptable methods of contraception, except abortion, to all Filipino citizens desirous of spacing, limiting or preventing pregnancies". You further stated that the proposed guidelines would involve the accreditation and certification of Full-time Outreach Workers (FTOW's), a group of non-medical population fieldworkers at the municipal level who were trained to deliver non-medical Family Planning (FP) services and to dispense contraceptive pills with the use of a checklist, and that the curricula used in the training of the FOTW's as well as the use of the checklist for screening pill acceptors have been duly approved by the medical authorities involved in the family planning.

We take it that the above request for confirmation of the proposed guidelines is prompted by the fact that under the said guidelines, the POPCOM would be certifying and accrediting non-medical workers in pill dispensing, which is usually a function of those involved in the medical profession.

Presidential Decree No. 79, otherwise known as the "Revised Population Act of the Philippines", provides insofar as pertinent as follows:

SEC. 4. Purpose and Objectives. The POPCOM shall have the following purposes and objectives:

xxx xxx xxx

To make available all acceptable methods of contraception, except abortion, to all Filipino citizens desirous of spacing, limiting or preventing pregnancies.

SEC. 5. Duties and functions of the POPCOM. The POPCOM shall have the following duties and powers:

To employ physicians, nurses and midwives to provide, dispense and administer all acceptable methods of contraception to all citizens of the Philippines desirous of spacing, limiting or preventing pregnancies: Provided, That, the above-mentioned health workers, except physicians, for the purpose of providing, dispensing and administering acceptable methods of contraception, have been trained and authorized by the POPCOM in consultation with the appropriate licensing bodies;

xxx xxx xxx". (Underscoring supplied)

Subsequently, Section 5(a) of Presidential Decree No. 79 was amended by Presidential Decree No. 79 was amended by Presidential Decree No. 1204 to read as follows:

SEC. 5. Duties and Functions of the POPCOM. The POPCOM shall have the following duties and powers:

To employ or authorize the employment by participating agencies in the national family planning, health and welfare program of physicians, nurses and midwives and other persons to provide, dispense and administer all acceptable methods of contraception to all citizens of the Philippines desirous of spacing, limiting or preventing pregnancies: Provided, That the above-mentioned persons, except physicians, for the purpose of contraception, have been trained and duly certified by the POPCOM. (underscoring supplied)

It is to be noted that Section 5(a) of P.D. No. 79, supra, originally authorized the POPCOM employ only physicians, nurses and midwives to provide, dispense and administer all acceptable methods of contraception to acceptors, provided that these health workers, except physicians, for the purpose of providing, dispensing and administering acceptable methods of contraception, have been trained and authorized by the POPCOM in consultation with the appropriate licensing bodies.

With the amendment introduced by P.D. No. 1204, the POPCOM is now empowered to employ or authorize the employment of physicians, nurses and midwives and "other persons", to provide, dispense and administer all acceptable methods of contraception to acceptors, provided that these persons, except physicians, for the purpose of contraception, have been trained and duly certified by the POPCOM.

While the legislative intent is clear from the amendatory statute to enlarge the authority of the POPCOM in order to enable it to employ persons other than physicians, nurses and midwives who will provide, dispense and administer all acceptable methods of contraception, and to vest in the POPCOM the authority, in consultation with the appropriate licensing bodies, to train and authorize these persons except physicians, for the purpose of contraception, it is believed that following the establishment principle of "ejusdem generia" to the effect that where general words follow an enumeration of particular subjects, the meaning of the general words will be construed as restricted by, or as including only things of the same kind, class, character, or nature as those specifically enumerated, the phrase "other persons" in Section 5(a) aforequoted, should be construed to refer to persons belonging to the same class or having the same or allied professional/academic background as physicians, nurses or midwives. If the legislative intention is to allow the accrediting of any persons without any medical other background or training similar to physicians, nurses or midwives, to deliver family planning services and dispense contraception pills to acceptors, the statute would have so provided unequivocally, by removing the enumeration which limits the scope of the general words following it.