This is in reaction to the news article on the hard-line stance of the Catholic Church against the use of condoms and contraceptives. (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8/29/08)

The use of condoms will not stop the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Health Undersecretary Mario Villaverde himself said that condoms have a 95 percent protection rate. In other words, the use of condoms does not guarantee that it will prevent, 100 percent, the spread of AIDS from one person to another. The microscopic holes in condoms are large enough for the AIDS virus to pass through. That?s why there has been no decline in the number of people contracting AIDS in countries promoting the use of condoms. On the contrary, there is a growing number of people with AIDS in those countries. Let us not give people false hopes about condoms protecting them, 100 percent, from AIDS. Only abstinence and chastity can give us that 100-percent protection from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Also, I am against the Reproductive Health Bill of Rep. Edcel Lagman. It will mandate sex education for young people, which means they will be taught how to have ?safe sex? by using contraceptives. The youth need education in chastity and true love. If we really want to avoid teenage pregnancies and prevent the spread of STDs, the best and safest way is to teach them self-control, abstinence and the value of keeping sex within marriage. Let us not deceive them by telling them that sex is safe when they use contraceptives. Contraceptives do not give them 100-percent protection from pregnancies and STDs.

We have to learn from the experience of countries which have institutionalized sex education and are promoting the use of condoms. Statistics show an increase in the incidence of teenage pregnancies and STDs in the United States where American youth receive extensive sex education in school.

IMELDA LL. AREOLA (via email)