A SPOKESPERSON of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday called on Catholic bishops not to “dictate” their flock on the use of condoms.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Charito Planas said people must have the option to use condoms, including to decide how to plan their families.

“Don’t dictate. Give the people a chance to choose, otherwise that would be dictatorship,” Planas said in Filipino in a radio interview.

“Even some Christians are using condoms,” she said, adding that condoms being offered by the government are not meant to induce abortion.

She said family planning is needed and the government is “not encouraging abortion.”

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