About

This site exists to explain responsible parenthood and all natural family planning in plain language, for Filipino couples, families, and the parish and barangay groups that walk with them. It gathers the teaching, the law, the science, and the method information in one place, and it says clearly where each part comes from.

This site belongs to the Responsible Parenthood and Natural Family Planning (RP-NFP) program of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental. The program runs under the CFLA ministry of the Archdiocese, and its coordinators serve in almost all the parishes of Misamis Oriental.

What the program does

The program provides assessment, and it trains new coordinators, who in turn teach RP-NFP to acceptors such as married couples.

The methods the program teaches are:

• the Basal Body Temperature (BBT) Method;
• the Billings Ovulation Method;
• the Sympto-Thermal Method;
• the Standard Days Method (SDM) with mucus observation;
• the Two-Day Method;
• the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) with breastfeeding and the mucus interface.

The Natural Family Planning page explains them in detail.

The main coordinator and instructor of the program is Susan S. Pahente, under the CFLA ministry, Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.

The RP-NFP program is sponsored and approved by the Department of Health (DOH).

This site publishes educational material and points readers to the primary sources behind it. Most of what it does falls into four areas.

• Articles on the blog that explain one idea at a time.
• Activities such as talks, seminars, and parish sessions.
• Events you can attend, with dates and venues.
• Resources — documents, links, and reading lists.

Start with Responsible Parenthood if the phrase is new to you, or Natural Family Planning if you want to know how the methods work.

Being clear about the program’s limits protects you. There are things this site deliberately does not offer.

• The program does not provide medical services, diagnoses, prescriptions, or clinical advice.
• This site does not track cycles, fertility signs, or pregnancies, and it does not collect health information from you.
• The program does not speak for the Catholic Church. This site is not an official publication of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro or of the CFLA ministry, and it carries no imprimatur. For a binding answer on doctrine, read the Church documents themselves and talk with your parish priest.
• The program trains its own coordinators, but it does not issue medical or professional certifications, and it cannot vouch for instructors outside the program. It does not endorse any commercial product.

Educational content only. Not medical advice. Not an official publication of the Catholic Church.

Mixing Catholic teaching with health information is easy to do badly. So every significant claim on this site is labelled with one of five categories, and you will see that label as a badge under the section heading.

• Official Catholic teaching — what the Church actually teaches, cited to a Church document.
• Philippine law and government information — Philippine statutes and government material, described neutrally.
• Medical and scientific evidence — what research and health bodies report, with its limits stated.
• NFP method organization — information published by a specific method organization, named as such.
• General educational content — ordinary explanation and orientation written by the program.

The program does not invent sources, endorsements, certifications, or effectiveness figures.

Content here is prepared by the RP-NFP program. It has no named external doctrinal or medical reviewer at this time. For binding doctrine, read the Church documents this site cites and speak with your parish priest; for health questions, consult a qualified health professional.

If you want to invite the program to your parish, correct something it has published, or ask a question, the program would like to hear from you.

• Send a message.
• Support this ministry.

These are the primary documents this site draws on. It links to the originals rather than reproducing them.

• Catechism of the Catholic Church
• Humanae Vitae (Paul VI, 1968)
• Gaudium et Spes (Second Vatican Council, 1965)
• Familiaris Consortio (John Paul II, 1981)
• Amoris Laetitia (Francis, 2016)
• Republic Act No. 10354, the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 (Philippines)

Not sure where to begin? Browse the Resources page, or write to the program and say what you are looking for.