RH Bill Sure to Pass Congress - Lagman

Batasan Pambansa, Quezon City (May 12, 2011) – “The controversial Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill) will surely pass congress.” This was the brave prediction of Congressman Edsel Lagman of the 1st District of Albay as he warned the Catholic Church of the inevitable outcome of the reproductive health debate.

During the press conference of the Lakas-Kampi party  yesterday, May 11, Lagman was even cocksure of the passage of the RH bill into a law.

The Bikolano solon who concurrently holds the position of minority floor leader of the lower house is the principal author of the RH bill.

The lower house deliberation of the RH bill resumes  on Tuesday, May 17.

Delving into other matters and ever adversarial to the new administration even if he is one with it on the reproductive health issue, Lagman also criticized the P-Noy administration for its failure to implement projects during his first ten months in office. In what appeared to be a potshot, he said “Mayo talaga” (there is none indeed,if translated from Bikol dialect)--- a humurous play on words because the month of May is also called “Mayo” in Bikol.

Having expended much energy warding off the removal of former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, Lagman now offers only a simple wishlist of the minority party for the next Ombudsman to be 1) independent, 2) with unblemished integrity and 3) without pending court cases against him or her.

But Lagman gave a sneak peek of the kind of bashing prospective Aquino appointees may get. According to him, the minority opposes the impending appointment of Ex-Senator Mar Roxas to the cabinet. They foresee possible division among the cabinet of P-Noy and they doubt if Roxas will be effective in the cabinet at all. "He was Trade Secretary during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, now congresswoman. He also ran for Vice President under P-Noy ticket but lost to Vice President Jojo Binay. The people are hopeful, yet he (Roxas) is simply a loser," said Lagman.