Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) is seriously pushing for the amendment of Republic Act 8504 or the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998 in order to allow for the implementation of mandatory human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening, particularly for high-risk groups.

In a press briefing, Dr. Lyndon Lee, spokesman for the DOH clarified that the mandatory HIV screening they have been pushing would not be for the general public. “There are talks going around that mandatory HIV screening means requiring all Filipinos to submit themselves to test, we don’t mean it that way,” he said.

Lee said the proposed mandatory testing will only be for heterosexual Filipino married men who he said are at the highest risk for HIV because of  their secret rendezvous during their out of town ‘business trips.’

“In our ‘macho society,’ ” Lee said, “it is the male heterosexual Filipino men who least practice protected sex with their spouses, mistresses and out-of-town flings because they feel they are less vulnerable to HIV exposure than the traditional high-risk groups like men who have sex with men, injection drug users and sex workers.  Lee added that these men are the least likely to use condoms for fear that if they do, their spouses would suspect that they are cheating on them or are having an extra-marital affair.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, still feeling betrayed by the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) Law, has refused to comment on the DOH proposal.  The RH law provides for the distribution of condoms and birth control devices at government clinics.