Morality and practicality.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Rina Jimenez-David

RADIO show-biz commentator "Tita" Swarding put his opposition to condoms succinctly: "I don't approve of condoms because they take the pleasure out of sex!" To which I had to retort that "there's no pleasure to be had when you're already dead!"

Last Thursday's "Debate" (actually, it aired very early in the morning of Friday) on GMA-7 was supposed to focus on the implications of Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit's declaration that the DOH was not keen on promoting condoms as one of the methods of family planning. Which is strange, come to think of it, since condoms have long been part of the "menu" of safe, effective and legal methods of contraception that the government has been promoting for decades. Condoms are perhaps the oldest contraceptive method. Trust Condoms' Benny Llapitan recounted that the first condoms were developed soon after the Crusades when the crusaders started bringing home sexually transmitted infections along with tales of heroism. What's more, condom use is the only family planning method that also provides protection against most sexually transmitted infections. So where did Dayrit's sudden and unfounded hostility to condoms spring from?

Unfortunately, the question put to the viewing public and to the panelists focused not on Dayrit's stated policy, but on the "morality" of condom use. And that's where the discussion immediately bogged down. For when such a personal and subjective matter as "morality" is dragged into the discussion, there can be no meeting of minds, since standards on what is "moral" or "immoral" are bound to vary widely.

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ACTUALLY, I wanted to refute "Tita" Swarding's assertion about the loss of sensation when using a condom since experts claim the latex used in condoms sold these days is so thin it should not interfere with the user's pleasure. But then, who was I to say so, being a woman? I waited for my co-panelists, Bukidnon Rep. Neric Acosta and comedian Gary Lising, to speak up, but they chose the better part of discretion.