House determined to approve reproductive health bill

MANILA, Philippines – Passing the controversial reproductive health bill may be an uphill battle, but the leadership of the House of Representatives is determined to approve the measure that influential Catholic bishops have continued to block.

Speaker Prospero Nograles, who has yet to give his stand on the issue, has acknowledged the powerful lobby of the Catholic Church against House Bill 5043, or the “Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development Act of 2008.”

The bill, which is still undergoing deliberations, has been included in the agenda of the House, now that Congress has resumed session after more than a month-long legislative break.

“Among the priority measures, the RH bill is the most difficult to pass,” Nograles admitted.

“There are at least 24 congressmen who are lining up to interpellate, and that’s one person per session day.”

“This is something we can’t close our eyes to. We are really divided on this issue,” he added, saying he cannot figure out what will happen to the bill, whether it will be passed by the House or not.

“We will only find out who are for or against when the voting comes,” the Speaker declared.

A congressman who requested anonymity told The STAR he is not optimistic about the bill’s passage, pointing out that even if the House passes the measure, it will most likely be killed in the Senate where presidential aspirants abound, and they usually toe the church line.

Meanwhile, 22 more members of the House have joined the original 108 who wanted to push for the approval of the controversial reproductive health bill in Congress, said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, one of the main authors of the bill.

He disclosed that these lawmakers – who are now co-authors – “have remained steadfast in their advocacy” of the measure.

The senior House member is also pinning their hopes on about 24 more “congresspersons” – on top of the 130 – “who have pledged to vote for the RH bill despite their being not overt signatories.”

The 130 figure, plus the 24 others, would comprise, “at any given time,” a “majority of the quorum of the House wherein only a simple majority of the quorum is needed to approve the measure,” according to Lagman. There are now 266 House members.

“With the definitive political will of Congress, the growing support of the Filipino people and the realization and understanding of the nexus between population and development, it would be unwise for the executive to reject the RH bill,” he said.

Last January, around 113 lawmakers pushed for the RH bill, which is just seven signatures short of being approved. –DELON PORCALLA, Philippine Star