LIPA, Batangas, August 17, 2013—If a trial by media mileage would be done on R.A. 10354’s Supreme Court oral arguments, the proponents of the law would be the all too obvious winners, a priest said.
“If I could just cry now, I would. The sad thing is, I saw how the RH Law was presented in media, according to those who want it to get ratified,” said Sacred Theology professor Fr. Yulito Ignacio, in a talk to Marian devotees.
Half true reportage
Decrying what he calls news reports of “half-truths” about the RH Law oral debates in the Supreme Court (SC), Ignacio noted how the media failed to report on the fact that a good number of the SC justices had glaring objections about the said law, choosing instead to report on the speeches of the law’s authors, Rep. Edcel Lagman and Sen. Pia Cayetano.
“What are in the newspapers, on TV, on YouTube, are all lies! All half-truths come from the devil, according to St. Teresa of Avila,” Ignacio, who has been attending the RH Law oral debates for the past two weeks, added.
Fr. Ignacio hardly seems like the only one to notice a concerted media bias.
Chet Espino also wrote a Philippine Daily Inquirer column titled, “RH oral arguments: what wasn’t reported” to describe the gruelling cross-examination of Concepcion Noche – an episode which was painted in the media as anything but edifying for the pro-life camp, but which apparently won brownie points with several SC justices.
Attack on religion
During a talk last August 16 in Our Lady of Carmel church, Fr. Itoy, as he is known to many, also particularly lamented the none-too-subtle attack on institutionalized religion in the Philippines, specifically on the Catholic Church and its teachings.
“I’m sad. Just allow me to emote here. In our beloved Philippines, you will see, the number one target is the whole Catholic Church,” he said, saying the Church remains unchanging with regard to its stand on contraception, which Pope emeritus Benedict XVI included in a list of ‘modern social sins’ in 2008, together with contributing to the widening gap between rich and poor, environmental pollution and drug abuse.
Ignacio, who gave a talk on “The Spirit of the World”, noted how critics bash the clergy for the Church’s opposition to artificial birth control.
“Personally, we have nothing to do with it. It is Jesus Christ preaching the Gospel of life. Family life is sacred, married life is sacred. We have no right to end life in the womb,” he explained. [Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz]