In a bid to make President Aquino bow to the Catholic bishops’ stand against the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill that will have government providing contraceptives to those who choose to utilize the artificial method in cutting down the size of their families, though “responsible parenthood,” the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Bishop Nereo Odchimar of Tandag, Surigao del Sur yesterday, in an interview with Catholic radio station Veritas, threatened Aquino with a possible excommunication if he continues to be firm on his stand on family planning through choice.
The bishop said: “Well, being the President of all, you must consider the position of the Catholic Church because we are approaching these issues from the moral aspect like the unborn. Abortion is a grave crime and excommunication is attached to this. That is an issue of gravity; that is a violation of God’s commandment,” Odchimar said, adding, when prodded during the interview, that excommunication of Aquino, who is a Catholic, is a “proximate possibility.”
“That (excommunication) is a possibility.
Right now, it is a proximate possibility.”
He amended it, however by saying that “right now, we are open for a dialog,” even as he complained that while the CBCP has been seeking a dialog with the President, Aquino has not replied to the bishops’ request for a dialog.
But Malacanang said the invitation remains open for the CBCP to hold a dialog with Aquino on the issue of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told reporters yesterday that this had always been the case between the Palace and the Church even from the campaign period when the camp of then Liberal Party presidential candidate, Aquino, sent an invitation to its members to discuss this longstanding conflict between the Church and the State when it comes to the issue of population.
“I’d like to mention that such dialog started since the election period. We have asked the CBCP; we wrote them a letter last Feb. 25 and we have not received any response from the CBCP since that time,” Lacierda said in a post-briefing interview.
“We have already informed them (bishops) that we are open for dialog so it’s up to them. They did not respond on our first invitation but that invitation remains open,” he added.
Lacierda stressed that they still haven’t received any information from the side of the CBCP therefore he is not at liberty to disclose as to when the meeting between the bishops and the President is going to be held to discuss the RH Bill.
The Palace spokesman also underscored that the President never shifted his position regarding this matter since the campaign period and has always been advocating responsible parenthood in which the decision to plan the family is entirely left with the couple.
Lacierda also refused to make any commitment on the reported proposal of House Minority leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman to certify the RH Bill as urgent—a move that was reportedly supported by Speaker and Quezon City Rep. Feliciano Belmonte, Aquino’s ally.
“We cannot confirm this because we have to yet study the RH Bill. Our position is responsible parenthood—the decision to determine what size and what method (to be used in family planning) should be with the parents as the decision makers,” Lacierda explained.
“Whichever way (of family planning) they would like to do, the state would help them especially the poor (who are free to decide) what method they want to use and we will just help them,” he added.
When asked if public opinion would become a factor on Aquino’s decision given survey results that more Filipinos are in favor of the RH Bill, Lacierda said: “let’s clarify. There was that survey in 2009—latest survey that I am aware of—68 percent was aware of family planning left for the parents to decide, not necessarily the RH Bill. So that’s it.”
Meanwhile, Aquino seems bent on facing the consequences of his actions in his reaction to a threat made by the CBCP president on Aquino’s excommunication should he insist on his plan to provide contraceptives to poor couples who would be choosing to apply artificial birth control methods.
“We are all guided by our consciences. My position has not changed. The state’s duty is to educate our families as to their responsibilities and to respect their decisions if they are in conformity to our laws,” Aquino said in a statement relayed to Palace reporters yesterday afternoon.
Aquino has incurred the ire of the bishops following a statement he made during his recent visit in the United States, in a townhall-like meeting with the members of the Filipino community that “the government is obligated to inform everybody of their responsibility and their choices.”
“At the end of the day, the government might provide assistance to those who are without means if they want to employ a particular method. But, after saying that, I will not embark on a situation that forces couples to go one way or another. Every country that has adopted, for instance, a one child policy is trying desperately to reverse it,” Aquino was quoted saying.
For the Catholic church, excommunication is the highest punishment meted to members of the Catholic faith.
In essence, excommunication is exclusion from communion, which deprives the guilty Catholic of receiving any spiritual blessings as well as the other sacraments.
But to Malacañang’s claim of having extended an invitation to dialog, the CBCP president claimed it is the Palace that has not responded to the bishops’ call for a dialog.
“As a matter of fact we opened that (invitation to a dialog before his Sona in July. The CBCP issued an open letter stating our position that there should be a dialog, We have not had any feelers. We don’t want to be confrontational,” Odchimar was quoted as saying.
The CBCP president also pointed out that Aquino’s claim of his government taking the righteous and straight path cannot be taken seriously, and should be taken with a grain of salt due to his position on the use of artificial contraception.
He mentioned that for the Church, human life starts at conception and the Church considers artificial contraceptives as abortifacients, saying this method kills the fertilized ovum.
There was no explanation from the bishop on how there can be conception when, in the case of condoms, there is no sperm that meets the egg.
The Speaker meanwhile said he is prepared to face the wrath of the Catholic church in making sure that pending bills on reproductive health in the House of Representatives are discussed extensively and voted on by lawmakers.
“Everyone has to assess it for himself, but we ourselves have assessed it in the past and we are willing to take the risk,” said Belmonte in his weekly press conference when asked how congressmen intend to deal with the staunch opposition of the Catholic church.
Belmonte said he would like to see the proposed measure reach third reading and voted on by members of the Lower Chamber, unlike in the past congresses when it only reached the level of plenary debates.
The Speaker said he might even ask Aquino to certify it as an urgent measure.
“I think it’s okay for us to request him ( Aquino) to certify that. At any rate he’s already bitten the bullet on it,” he said.
Around six bills seeking a law on comprehensive reproductive health are pending in the House.
Belmonte said the issue has once again been thrust into the public’s awareness because of the President’s pronouncement that he is open to supporting couples who want to use artificial means of family planning.
He acknowledged that the President’s statement will somehow influence lawmakers’ position on the issue.
“To be very frank, the stand of the President, I think, will have some influence on our bill here which is now pending along with other bills of the same nature,” he said. –Aytch S. de la Cruz With PNA
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