Press Release
October 10, 2007

Pia: Congress is new battleground for formula milk ban

Senator Pia S. Cayetano today said she fully respects the 12-0 decision of the Supreme Court declaring null and void the total advertisement ban on breastmilk substitutes under the revised implementing rules and regulations of Executive Order No. 51 or the National Milk Code.

But the lady senator was quick to point out that all's not lost for breastfeeding advocates since an amendment to the Milk Code can always be introduced in Congress with the purpose of strengthening the law's prohibitions on the promotion of infant formula and breastmilk substitutes.

"While there's still the possibility of exhausting all legal remedies (in the case), including the filing of a motion for reconsideration by the Department of Health (DOH), the legislature can already take the initiative of introducing amendments to the Milk Code," Cayetano said in an e-mail from Geneva where she is currently attending the 117th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in her official capacity as First Vice President of the IPU Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians.

"My committee is ready to review the Milk Code and its implementing rules, and consult with the DOH and non-government organizations on possible amendments to reinforce the ad ban," added the lady senator, herself a staunch advocate of breastfeeding and principal author of the 'Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act' (SBN 1698).

"We will also be guided by the Supreme Court decision and its final resolution of the case," she added.

"From the judiciary, the battlefront has just shifted to the legislature. Admittedly, the process may take time and could be drawn-out. But this would be the proper course of action, as the Supreme Court itself had recommended in its decision."

She said the health committee was ready to take up the amendments once session resumes in November.

The committee has just passed two priority measures, namely the 'Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act' (SBN 1698) and the 'Affordable Medicines Act' (SBN 1658) which she co-authored with Sen. Mar Roxas.

Both measures were unanimously approved on second reading last week.

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