130 lawmakers now support reproductive health bill, says Lagman

MANILA, Philippines – Twenty-two more members of the House of Representatives have joined the original 108 who wanted to push for the approval of the controversial reproductive health bill in Congress that the influential Catholic church is vehemently opposing.

This was revealed by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, one of the main authors of the bill, who disclosed that these lawmakers – who are now co-authors – “have remained steadfast in their advocacy” of the measure.

The senior House member is also pinning hopes on about 24 more “congresspersons” – on top of the 130 – “who have pledged to vote for the RH bill despite their being not overt signatories.”

The 130 figure, plus the 24 others, would comprise, “at any given time,” a “majority of the quorum of the House wherein only a simple majority of the quorum is needed to approve the measure,” according to Lagman. There are now 265 House members.

Other reasons that make Lagman optimistic about the future of the bill are the support of senators and the public as shown in surveys and the endorsement of NGOs and Christian churches of the health measure.

“With the definitive political will of Congress, the growing support of the Filipino people and the realization and understanding of the nexus between population and development, it would be unwise for the executive to reject the RH bill,” Lagman said.

He nonetheless lamented that the late Rafael Salas, who earned the moniker “Mr. Population” in his stint as first executive director of the UN Population Fund, is no longer around.

Salas, now that the World Population Day is being celebrated, was the first to champion family planning and pioneer the inclusion of family planning as an indispensable component of the agenda on sustainable human development.

“It is unfortunate that his own Philippines lags behind in the implementation of his world-acclaimed agenda on population as it relates to human development, and our country has yet to enact a nationwide and comprehensive statute or law on family planning, reproductive health and population development which is genuinely health and rights-based and adequately funded,” Lagman said.

“But all is not lost. We are still optimistic that the third session of the fourteenth Congress will finally witness the passage of the reproductive health bills in both the House of Representatives and the Senate,” he added.

Last January, around 113 lawmakers were pushing for the RH bill, which is just seven signatures short to have the measure approved. There were still 240 House members then, however, until the Supreme Court added 30 more party-list representatives.

This was revealed by Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros, co-author of House Bill 5043, or the “Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development Act of 2008,” which is now undergoing deliberations at the lower chamber.

A survey conducted by Pulse Asia in October 2008 revealed that six of 10 Filipino adults, or 63 percent, are in favor of the bill promoting family planning and the use of contraceptives despite opposition from the Catholic Church.

Only a minuscule eight percent are not in favor and 29 percent ambivalent on the matter.

“It’s another win for the RH bill. A majority of the respondents, and we presume many of them are Catholics, want the government to spend for this. A majority of them say that this is a political issue,” Hontiveros said.

The Catholic Church, which counts over 80 percent of Filipinos as followers, has said the bill, which has been pending in Congress for months, is headed for defeat after a high-profile campaign by bishops.

The country’s population now stands at around 90 million, with an annual growth rate of 2.04 percent, one of the highest in Asia and above the government’s target of 1.9 percent, officials have warned.

The Pulse Asia survey also found eight in 10 Filipinos or 82 percent think government should not only educate couples regarding modern methods of family planning but also provide them with services and materials on these methods.

The same survey showed 68 percent of Filipinos are aware of the measure and only 32 percent do not know about the bill.

The non-commissioned survey, conducted from Oct. 14 to 27, used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults 18 years old and above.

“Across all geographic areas and socio-economic groupings, majorities (60 percent to 89 percent) know about the proposed legislation with the highest level of public awareness being recorded in the best-off socio-economic Class ABC,” Pulse Asia reported.

In contrast, lack of awareness is most pronounced in Mindanao and Class E (38 percent and 40 percent, respectively), it said.

Pulse Asia said majorities ranging from 56 percent in the Visayas to 79 percent in Class ABC are in favor of the bill.

Public ambivalence on the matter is more notable in the Visayas, Mindanao, and Class E (32 percent to 35 percent) than in Class ABC and Metro Manila (13 percent to 21 percent), Pulse Asia said.

Among the eight percent of Filipinos who do not favor the proposed legislation, additional survey findings showed that 47 percent of them agree with the need to promote information and access to natural and modern family planning methods.

Nearly seven in 10 Filipinos or 69 percent agree with the provision of the bill recognizing the rights of women and couples to choose the family planning method they want. About the same percentages either agree or disagree (36 percent versus 35 percent) with the inclusion of sex education in school curricula. –Delon Porcalla, Philippine Star