P-Noy endorses RH bill

MANILA, Philippines (Aug 16, 2011) - Fifteen years after it was first filed, the controversial Reproductive Health Bill finally has the chance to be put into vote in Congress after the Philippine President gives it a push towards being enacted into law.

President Benigno C. Aquino III today formally endorsed to Congress the Reproductive Health (RH) bill as crafted by his working group in the Palace.

Malacañang prefers to call it the Responsible Parenthood (RP) as several amendments on the earlier proposed bill were introduced covering reproductive health and population and development.

While vowing not to allow the bill to be watered down, Aquino said upon extensive reflection, the omission of several issues in the controversial bill was done because they were found to be contentious and "not necessary."

"There are certain provisions that upon reflection are not necessary to achieve the desired aims and that is what we have tried to achieve with the consensus of the processes with the legislature," said Aquino after the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting where the bill was endorsed as among the priority legislative initiatives.

Among the details deleted from the proposed bill were provisions fixing the ideal number of children to only two and changing the appropriate age for teaching sex education from 9 to 11 years old or when the child is in grade six or in high school.

Other provisions of the bill that will be amended include giving parents the option to hold sex education talks by themselves and exempting hospitals run by the religious orders from distributing artificial planning methods within their jurisdiction.

"This provision will be modified so that those that are church-based hospitals can practice their faith in recognition of freedom of religion enshrined under Article 3 of the Constitution," said Aquino.

"So there were not less than 10 proposed amendments that will go through the process (in Congress), such as plenary debates, but I think we are in agreement that we can fine-tune (the bill) to improve the proposed version," he added.

The President asks legislators for "expeditious action" on the RP/RH bill and other priority bills.

"I cannot speak for the co-equal branch, but I assume that by the next SONA (State of the Nation Address) we will be reporting a lot of these as actual laws," Aquino said.

The inclusion of the RH bill among P-Noy's priority bills was met by rejoicing by RH bill advocates while cautioning against over confidence.

Risa Hontiveros Baraquiel thanked the President. "Tinupad nya and kanyang pangako noong kampanya," she said.

The leaders of Congress are poles apart on the issue.

 

"In the case of the RH bill, we cannot assure that we will pass a version, period. It will take a full-blown debate in the Senate," said Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile citing contentious issues to it.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said it is high time for the RH bill to be discussed thoroughly by Congress. "Let it reach the point where we actually vote on it so that we do not add just another year to the 14 or 15 years that this bill has been pending," he said.

The Catholic Church has been consistent in its opposition to the RH bill. Archbishop Jose S. Palma, president of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) took offense in the RP bill being certified as among the priority bills.

The 12 other priority bills are:
adequate protection and additional benefits for house helpers,
expansion of science and technology scholarship programs,
amendments to the Rural Electrification Law,
sin tax or restructuring the excise tax on alcohol and tobacco products,
amendments to the Human Security Act,
Data Privacy Act,
expanded consumer protection,
reorganization of the Philippine statistical system,
amendments to the PTV-4 law,
provision for the delineation of the specific forest limits of public domain,
stiffer penalties for stealing and tampering with government risk reduction and preparedness equipment, and
amendments to the Lina Law or the Urban Development Housing Act of 1992.
(From philstar.com, Vox Bikol)