A MEETING with the Catholic bishops has not changed President Benigno Aquino III’s decision to make artificial birth control available to the poor, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Friday.
The President was not in the meeting with the representatives of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, but was represented by Health Secretary Enrique Ona and the chief of the Presidential Management Staff, Julia Abad, Lacierda said. He said he was also in the meeting.
Bataan Bishop Socrates Villegas, Cavite Bishop Antonio Tagle, and CBCP secretary general Juanito Figura, represented the Church.
“In a situation where couples, especially the poor and disadvantaged ones, are in no position to make an informed judgment, the state has the responsibility to so provide,” the President said. “In the range of options and information provided to couples, natural family planning and modern methods shall be presented as equally available.”
Lacierda said the administration panel presented Mr. Aquino’s five-point position on responsible parenthood to the bishops.
“We made it very clear to them that the statement of the President on his position on responsible parenthood remains,” he said.
The President’s position is that he is against abortion, but he favors giving couples the right to choose how best to manage their families so that, in the end, their welfare and those of their children are best served.
The government must respect each individual’s right to follow his or her conscience and religious convictions on matters pertaining to the unity of the family and the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death.
The two camps agreed to meet again between Dec. 7 and Dec. 15, said Lacierda, since the bishops were not scheduled to return to Manila until Dec. 6 after their visit to Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.
The Health Department plans to buy 2 million condoms next year from its proposed P400-million budget for family planning. Joyce Pangco Pañares, Manila Standard Today
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