Lagman still hopeful on passage of Reproductive Health Bill

MANILA, Philippines – Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman is optimistic that the next Congress would pass the Reproductive Health and Population Development Bill.

“This is not the end of the road for the RH bill,” he said.

“We still have the 15th Congress (July 2010-June 2013).”

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Lagman said he draws inspiration from a recent survey that showed most Filipino Catholics favor family planning and are open to the use of contraceptives.

“I think even if the bill will not be passed, we have educated the Filipino people to accept the reality that there is a need to practice family planning according to their religious and personal beliefs,” he said.

Lagman said the Catholic Church’s strong anti-RH stand is an “erratic prescription” since a majority of the Catholics will not abide by the guidelines.

A majority of Catholics have long accepted that family planning and even contraceptive use are acceptable and moral, he added.

Lagman said that the RH bill is a quality measure which is not inferior to other pending measures given priority.

“No amount of new tax laws will shore up the economy if the government continues to fail to address the ballooning population which is expected to reach a staggering 94 million Filipinos this year,” he said.

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello has also raised the issue of the RH Bill’s long-delayed passage.

“What is morally reprehensible is to keep the reproductive rights of Filipinas at the mercy of the church’s political opinion,” he said.

Bello said Catholic priests read a pastoral letter in Masses last Sunday advising the faithful to “follow their conscience” in choosing candidates in the May 10 elections.

“Does it sit well with our conscience that families are condemned to poverty owing to the lack of means for effective family planning?” he asked.

“Or that there are rising numbers of people infected by sexually transmitted diseases due to the lack of decent information?

“Akbayan is not threatened by the church’s brand of blackmail. We stand firm in the belief that Filipino men and women alike deserve a reproductive health act that will empower them to improve their lives.”

Last Dec. 27, the Catholic Church released the Catechism on Family and Life for the 2010 elections that declares it “would not be morally permissible to vote for candidates who support anti-family policies, including reproductive health.”

Bello said lawmakers must assert their independence from the Church’s opinion and maintain the fine line between the Church and the state.

“Congress must remember that we cater to a broader constituency that extends beyond the members of the Catholic Church,” he said.

“It is our moral and political duty to ensure that people are empowered to make better decisions and improve their lives, especially in terms of reproductive rights that, all throughout history, have been abused.

“We’ve come too far to fail Filipinas, our mothers, sisters, and daughters, once again. We have six session days left to prove that we are not representatives of the dogmatic and myopic views of the Church, but of the true interest of the Filipino people.”

The RH Bill has been filed in Congress since the 8th Congress (1987-1992) during the time of President Corazon Aquino.

It was re-filed in subsequent Congresses, but this is so far the farthest the bill has reached, which is up for plenary debates. -– Delon Porcalla, Philippine Star