Church, Palace to provide ‘full information’ on family planning

THE Aquino government and the Catholic Church on Wednesday have agreed to provide the public “full information” on the methods of family planning, both natural and artificial.

Palace officials and the representatives from the Catholic Bishops’ and Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) met Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at the Pope Pius Center in United Nations Avenue, Manila.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, who was present in the meeting, said the dialogue was primarily a discussion on the five-point position of President Benigno Aquino 3rd on responsible parenthood.

During the dialogue, Lacierda said both parties have agreed, “full information must be provided to the public regarding all methods of family planning.”

“It was also discussed that information as to benefits and risks of family planning method will also be provided,” Lacierda said during a briefing in Malacañang.

He said the details of what information to be given have not been worked out. “We are forming a technical working group so that the details of the information can be spelled out and can be discussed,” he said.

“Once they [the technical working group] come up with a plan, they will submit it to the plenary, to the bishops and to the government officials, for discussion,” he added.

Lacierda also said that the Palace and the CBCP also agreed that the government “should not be an instrument to enforce one’s conscience, national/religious views nor to actively encourage the violation of the person’s conscience.”

“The dialogue is held in order to get important stakeholders views on executive policies,” the Palace spokesman added.
He said the Palace officials and the Church representatives also discussed some points of the reproductive health bill during their meeting.

Representing the government in the meeting were Lacierda, Health Secretary Enrique Ona, Presidential Management Staff head Julia Abad.

President Aquino was not present in Wednesday’s dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Aquino government.

On the part of the Catholic Church, present were Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, CBCP Secretary General Monsignor Juanito Figura, lawyers Dindo Garciano and Jo Imbong, and a number of medical experts. –Cris G. Odronia, Manila Times