Executive Summary The achievement of AmBisyon Natin 2040, which envisions a “Philippines where no one is poor, all are living long and healthy lives, are smart and innovative, and thriving in vibrant, culturally diverse, and resilient communities”, is under threat due to our country’s population age structure. and families. This translates to healthy and wellprotected mothers and children, which, in turn, translates to healthy families and communities. Primarily dominated by a large base of young people aged 0 to 15 years old, the country’s working age population carry the heavy burden of meeting the basic needs of the young, including the elderly. A population age structure with a large dependency burden greatly hinders the country’s ability to achieve the “demographic dividend”, which is the potential economic payoff that can result from a working-age population that is enjoying good health, quality education, decent employent and a lower proportion of young dependents1. One of the most important policies that was enacted this year was the DOH and POPCOM Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 201901 which clarified the roles of both agencies in the implementation of the Family Planning program in the country. Under the policy, DOH focuses on promoting women’s health and rights while POPCOM is more on advocacy for family planning for population and development. Some of the barriers to achieving the demographic dividend are: 1) high fertility rate, as two million Filipinos are added to the population every year; 2) high unmet need for family planning, as women continue to have more children than they want; and 3) increasing number of girls getting pregnant and giving birth at a young age, among others. Under this backdrop, there is an urgent impetus for the full implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law in order for the country to reap the much aspired demographic dividend in 10 to 20 years time (2030 to 2040). This does not discount the fact that the RPRH Law aids in the achievement of desired health outcomes for Filipino individuals 1 https://www.unfpa.org/demographic-dividend Policy and Governance Other notable policy issuances pertained to addressing the burgeoning issues of teenage pregnancy (Senate Bill 1888 and House Bill 4742); ensuring greater access to MNCHN services (various DOH circulars); improving insurance covereage for people living with HIV (policy guidelines for the Republic Act No. 11166); enhancing protection systems for women and children (R.A. No. 11313 Safe Spaces Act); and ensuring continuous provision of essential health services during the COVID-19 Pandemic, including “new normal” strategies. Budget and Financing Based on DOH and POPCOM allocations, the national government budget for the implementation of the RPRH Law in 2019 amounted to a combined Php 26.32 billion. The DOH remains to be the main source of funds for initiatives under the RPRH Law, 13 2019 Annual Report Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012