MALABON CITY, Philippines (UCAN) -- A 27-year-old mother of three wants her one-month baby to be her last, but discards the Church-backed Natural Family Planning (NFP) as an option.

Ignacia de Vera was among 453 men and women at the Family Planning Turu-Turo sa Malabon (family-planning cafeteria in Malabon), northwest of Manila, on March 24.

She told UCA News she heard from neighbors that NFP was "time-consuming" and "fails" to prevent pregnancy. "Since the Church is pushing for NFP, I think those working for the Church should explain NFP to ordinary people like me," de Vera said.

She said her husband's meager income -- 100 pesos (US$2) a day selling used bottles to a junk shop - caused her to consider emergency contraception at the turo-turo.

According to organizers, the event "is likened to the humble eatery, or carinderia, patronized by ordinary people because of the extensive array of dishes available and their affordability. Turo (which literally means 'to point') also means 'teach,' which some of the volunteer groups did through exhibits, educational sessions and materials, medical and legal counseling."

Joy Pacete, of the women's NGO LIKHAAN (Linangan ng Kababaihan, a place for honing women), told UCA News it was the first time for such an event. Pacete said many of those who came were from Manila, where issuing or selling artificial contraceptives is prohibited by the city government.

The women's-month event, themed Let the Women Live: Policies, Programs and Funding for Family Planning was sponsored by women's NGOs. Kiosks offered condoms, bilateral tubal ligation ("tube-tying"), injectable contraceptives, Intra-Uterine Devices (IUD), NFP, oral contraceptives, and vasectomy (male sterilization). Only NFP is approved by the Catholic Church.

Midwife Gemma Diezmo was one of 100 medical and health workers who volunteered to staff kiosks. Her condom kiosk had 189 men and women visitors during the one-day event.

Meanwhile, the NFP kiosk, manned by consultant Lydia Salonga, listed only seven visitors, and observed that those who came for advice found NFP methods "difficult to understand and perform," citing methods like Basal Body Temperature, which involves charting body temperature, and the Billings Method, which entails checking vaginal fluids and cervical mucus.

Lovely Regal, 19, who came with live-in partner Christian dela Cruz, 20, also inquired at the NFP kiosk. After Salonga explained to them the methods of NFP, Regal said, "I choose the simplest," pointing to the Standard Days Method (SDM) beads, a necklace that tracks fertility periods. But when the midwife told her SDM beads cost 85 pesos, Regal complained it was expensive.

Diezmo said, ironically, she and her husband practice NFP. But she does not advise women against using condoms.

Some women who use condoms are wives of laborers who only go home weekly or monthly, she said. "These women cannot refuse to have sex with their husbands on their fertile days for fear their husbands will look for other women."

She believes "part of NFP's unpopularity is weak information dissemination."

Salonga suggested "parishes have an NFP turo-turo, or go house to house like government health workers do, and bring reader-friendly modules on NFP."

Juliet Rivera, lay leader of the Committee on Family Life Apostolate for Kalookan diocese, which includes Malabon city, said the "positive side" of the family-planning turo-turo was the inclusion of an NFP kiosk. But she laments the NGOs' cafeteria approach, which "suggests that artificial contraception is better because it's easier and more practical."

Rivera told UCA News March 27 that "activities like (the turo-turo) must be a wake-up call for all members of the Church, to be proactive."

She submitted a proposal paper in late 2006 to Bishop Deogracias I?iguez of Kalookan indicating the committee's plans for "family and life centers in every parish," she said. The diocese has 26 parishes. According to her, the bishop welcomed the suggestion. She hopes that "through our commission's new priest-coordinator, we can creatively propagate NFP."

The diocese also supports Calaanan, an NGO which Rivera and 24 other laypeople started last year in Caloocan City. The NGO will run a center focused on "community-based" NFP education, and produce instructional materials like comics and video.

The National Statistics Office's 2005 Family Planning Survey found 49.3 percent of 50,000 Filipino women were using some form of contraception. Among those using contraceptives, 36 percent said they used modern methods, such as pills. At least 13 percent of respondents engaged in traditional methods, such as withdrawal, rhythm and periodic abstinence methods.

Kalookan diocese includes southern Caloocan City, coastal Malabon City and Navotas municipality, all northwest of Manila. Of its 1.2 million people, 93 percent are Catholic.

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(Accompanying photos available at here)