Iloilo officials draw flak as they use Carlos Yulo’s wins to offer free vasectomies

BACOLOD, Philippines – Health officials in Iloilo province have stirred controversy by using Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo and his two-gold-medal victories in the Paris Olympics to promote their family planning and vasectomy campaign.

Using Yulo as the poster boy for a social media ad campaign, the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) offered Ilonggo males a quick and minimally invasive procedure for permanent male contraception, which doesn’t require stitches and has a faster recovery time. 

The ad triumphantly read, “Congratulations, Caloy! To celebrate your victory in the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Iloilo PHO will offer free vasectomies to all Ilonggos named ‘Carlos,’ including their friends!” 

The campaign, dubbed “Panalo si Carlos Yulo, Panalo ang Pamilyang Planado!” quickly made the rounds on social media, where it was greeted with a chorus of jeers, laughter, and bewilderment.

Many netizens were quick to point out the irony of choosing a young and unmarried athlete as a model for vasectomy, a procedure which involves a small incision in the scrotum to close off the tubes that carry sperm. 

The backlash was swift and fierce, prompting the IPHO to delete the post as it quickly spread and generated a flood of negative and nasty comments, with some going to the extent of unfairly playing into stereotypes about Ilonggo males. The IPHO replaced it with another ad.

Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon, in a statement published by the Iloilo-based Daily Guardian, noted that while the campaign did attract interest from at least 15 eager Ilonggo males immediately, it also generated many negative reactions. 

“There were also negative interpretations, which we cannot control anymore,” Quiñon said.

Despite the backlash, the Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday, August 7, gave a nod of approval to the IPHO’s brief but controversial vasectomy ad. 

Health Undersecretary Mary Ann Palermo-Maestral said, “We commend IPHO’s creativity for capitalizing on the popularity of Yulo… just to boost its campaign for free-scalpel vasectomy aimed at enticing Ilonggo family men to submit to this minimally invasive family planning procedure. It actually matters nowadays, especially that August is a Family Planning Month.”

Maestral said Yulo’s popularity might be the perfect “sailing point” for the IPHO to navigate the choppy waters of promoting vasectomies among Ilonggo family men. – Rappler.com