The long wait for an RH law

House adjourns with no vote on RH bill

MANILA, Philippines – Lawmakers expect President Aquino to make a strong statement of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill during his State of the Nation Address in July.

This and public sentiment on the measure may spell the difference on whether or not it passes Congressional scrutiny.

With support for and against the RH bill very close in the House of Representatives, some lawmakers say 67 congressmen who have yet to decide their position on the measure, may just amount to a swing vote.

Delaying the vote

On Wednesday, House debates on the RH bill ended in a stalemate, as the chamber adjourned its first regular session.  Pro-RH lawmakers accused anti-RH lawmakers of delaying the vote.

“It’s part of tactics of those opposed to the RH bill to delay the proceedings for as long as possible. This was the tactic in previous administrations,” said party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers on ANC’s “The Rundown.”

“Lagman first filed the RH bill in the 11th Congress, it’s now the 15th Congress,” he added. “The public doesn’t want a protracted process, the people are waiting for a resolution to this issue.”

Anti-RH lawmakers say there is no need for to pass the measure, adding women don’t have to wait for the RH bill to get health services from government.

They cite existing government programs aimed at delivering the same services featured in the measure.

“The mere fact there’s a Magna Carta for Women, it already says women should have access to pre- and post-natal care and family planning methods and programs for AIDS and HIV,” said Zambales First District Rep. Mitos Magsaysay in the same program.

She noted former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral’s efforts to distribute contraceptives and condoms during the Arroyo administration.

De facto RH Bill

“The PNoy administration is having a de facto RH bill,” said Magsaysay. “The mere fact they put a budget of P731 million for condoms and contraceptives, they’re giving away to different LGUs is an implementation of the RH law.”

But pro-RH lawmakers point out, such programs and budget allocations are not enough, moreso given prevailing conditions that put the death toll from maternal deaths at 11 per day, one of highest rates of in region.

“Compared to the needs, it’s not enough. One estimate is, just for contraceptives, the government needs at least P3 billion,” said Tinio.

Despite the Magna Carta for Women, Tinio said the local government could not access family planning methods or contraceptives from the national government, making it necessary to come up with a measure that would guarantee a policy regardless of the political leanings of the administration.

Magsaysay pointed out, it is for this same reason that government should not approve the RH bill.

Budget cuts

Magsaysay cited the slashing of allocations for items in the 2011 budget:

tertiary education scholarships, from P1.3 billion to P900 million;
TESDA’s skills training program, from P5 billion to P700 million,
budget of the Department of Agriculture also slashed by half;
housing budget, from P10 billion to P5 billion; and,
legal assistance for OFWs, from P100 million to P27 million.

“Why would I want to spend P3 billion on contraceptives and condoms when I can see that there are programs more important to people,” countered Magsaysay.

Noting how the 2011 national budget has slashed a P1 billion allocation for essential medicine, Magsaysay asked lawmakers to identify which government expenditures were worth sacrificing.

“If you want to put P3 billion in contraceptives and condoms, what program of government will you slash to acommodate P3 billion,” she said.

If government has its priorities right, Tinio said, they could look at debt servicing largest sing item in budget, conditional cash transfer program P21B, already arguing in past session

Good for women?

Magsaysay said the pro-RH side has yet to prove contraceptives are not detrimental to a woman’s body.

But Tinio said the World Health Organization has issued statement saying there is no scientific basis for claims contraceptives are carcinogenic.

“That’s unmitigated hogwash, rumor mongering. It should stop, it’s irresponsible,” Tinio said.

Pro-RH lawmakers expect a vote on the bill when the second regular session of Congress opens on July 25.

Magsaysay believes voting won’t come before August, as 35 members of the House have yet to give their interpellation.

Senate debates next

Meantime, discussions are also expected to heat up at the Senate when Congress resumes session last week of July.

This as proponents pushed for their own version of the measure on Wednesday.

Twenty senators, including Senator Pia Cayetano, signed Senate bill 2865; 12 of them signed with reservations.

Cayetano, chair of the Senate Health and Demography Committee and sponsor of Senate Bill 2865, maintains the RH Bill is not just about religion and contraceptives.

Misconceptions

Speaking on ANC’s “Headstart,” Cayetano said there were many misconceptions about the bill, including the billions of pesos that will supposedly be spent for contraceptives.

Cayetano clarified that the biggest portion of the budget for the RH bill will be allocated for the salaries of health professionals and the construction of medical facilities.

“There is a lot of misconception about where the money will be spent.  It’s spent on facilities,” she said. “We have highest mortality to address, they die because there is no access to quality facilities.”

Cayetano also allayed fears that drug manufacturers will benefit most from the bill.

She insisted that the bill does not legalize abortion, but will instead make all family planning methods available to Filipinos.

Cayetano believes passing the bill will help the country because it will result in a healthier population. –Caroline J. Howard, ANC