Church-led protests on with RH bill passed — Cruz

Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz warned President Aquino with being faced with daily street protests led by the Church once the Reproductive Health (RH) bill that his administration is backing gets Congress’ approval.

Cruz said politicians can fool around with the Catholic Church on other issues but never on the sanc-tity of life.

Cruz said the Catholic hierarchy will definitely react and will wage battle when the sanctity of human life is under threat such as the possible passage of the RH bill.

“There’s nothing more precious for the church other than life. The most precious reality in the world is human life,” Cruz, former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, added.

In the church, the prelate said, there are only two sins in which the penalty of excommunication is imposed which are effective abortion and physically hurting the Pope.

“That’s it. So you see that among other things, the church is a protector of human life because without human life what is there to talk about,” Cruz said.

Cruz explained the church is dead set against the measure because all the issues surrounding it, from sex education, condoms, to

abortion, will only lead to one finality: contraception.

Another problem, he said, is that the RH bill has provisions that also promote the use of known abortifacients.

Cruz claimed that the campaign for RH bill has become more aggressive in the county because of the lobby funds that the advocates and even some politicians have been receiving, which he said come from themultinational pharmaceutical firms that produce contraceptives, injectables, and other family planning implements.

“RH is already a done deal… it’s already a fact,” the bishop said.

Cruz issued the statements during a forum yesterday, following a CBCP statement that disregarding the moral implications is a form of corruption.

In a strongly-worded pastoral letter, the bishops’ collegial body also called on the people to “act together” again to block the passage of the measure.

“I admire the CBCP for declaring, so to speak, that enough is enough… and we remember our role in Edsa 1 and we are calling upon those Catholics to also signify their role,” Cruz said.

“And it’s not a mere threat. It’s an open declaration that okay you maintain your position and that we will also do ours,” he added.

The senior prelate also said that the church might start mobilizing its followers if the debate in Congress is “leaning toward the pro-RH bill because once it will be passed, Aquino will sign it.”

“So it will really depend on what will happen in Congress… the situation there will also spell the action the CBCP,” he said.

The Palace, meanwhile, reiterated that the government remains committed to pursue the five-pronged Responsible Parenthood (RP) agenda of Aquino amid CBCP’s threat of mass actions after the whose consolidated version of the RH bill reportedly made it through the House of Representatives’ committee on population and family relations last Monday.

The apparent progress that the RH bill has been making in Congress went against the Church’s bid to have it quashed, prompting CBCP president and Tandang Bishop Nereo Odchimar to consider the possibility of pulling his group out from an ongoing dialog with Malacañang.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that while they are “surprised” to hear such statement coming from Odchimar, this will not deter them from pursuing their third set of formal dialog with CBCP representatives which has been scheduled by the end of the month.

“It’s unfortunate should they decide to pull out because we are given a chance to explain to them and for us to listen also to their views especially that can help us in our executive policies. It’s unfortunate if they choose to leave the dialog,”Lacierda said.

Malacanang, in response to CBCP Pastoral letter said they “agree to disagree” as Lacierda reaffirmed their position advocating an informed choice among the public on both natural and artificial family planning methods.

Lacierda explained that the policy to distribute free contraceptives to poor couples does not exactly constitute moral corruption as it is the State’s obligation to keep the public informed on both natural and artificial family planning methods.

“The distribution of contraceptives will be for those who cannot have access or do not have the means or resources to do that. We will not give them without reason. That is the policy of this government. We will provide contraceptives to those who cannot afford,” he underscored. –Pat C. Santos with Aytch S. de la Cruz, Daily Tribune