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Date Posted: 18:50:14 12/10/12 Mon
Author: d
Subject: fb278

Bishops told not to sow fear to defeat RH
By Christine F. Herrera | Posted on Dec. 11, 2012 at 12:02am | 600 views

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The author of the Reproductive Health bill on Monday warned Catholic bishops against using fear and intimidation to sway lawmakers to reject the hotly contested measure ahead of a crucial vote in the House of Representatives Wednesday.

At the same time, a late vote scheduled by the Senate cast doubt over the bill’s fate there.

“Catholic bishops are welcome during the consideration and voting on the RH bill, but they are cautioned not to demean congresspersons by treating them like docile sheep to be watched and shepherded,” said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of the bill in the House.

The bishops, who have put on a show of force in the plenary, want Congress to delay voting on the RH bill to allow more time for study. Supporters of the bill, however, say debates over the bill have gone on for more than a year, and that the time has come to vote.

“If the veiled purpose of the bishops’ presence in the gallery is to sow fear or employ intimidation against legislators, they will not succeed because fear is destitute of reason and must be resisted with conviction, and not be allowed to deter or delay legislation,” he said.

Last week, the bishops mounted a text campaign to pressure lawmakers into rejecting the RH bill. They said they were keeping score on the votes of each lawmaker, and that those who voted for the bill would face reprisals during next year’s election.

But Lagman said the presence of bishops in the plenary during the past session days did not save the “killer amendments” proposed by RH critics from being voted down repeatedly.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, which objects to the bill on the basis of its support for birth control and sex education, said many bishops and nuns will be present at the House on Wednesday, when the bill is put to a vote on second reading.

Melvin Castro, the priest who heads the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, said the presence of the bishops would provide moral and spiritual support to lawmakers who opposed the bill.

The bishops exhorted parishioners to join them in prayer so that the bill will be rejected.

But a co-author and outspoken defender of the bill, Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco, said they would not be intimidated by the prelates.

“We cannot be cowed. We have been firm in our position that the country needs the RH bill to help empower our people and alleviate poverty,” Cojuangco said.

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello added that the bishops could no longer change the stance of the pro-RH lawmakers, and said their presence in the gallery might have even backfired.

“I think the bishops’ intimidating presence might backfire. One anti-RH person in fact told me that he is against the bishops watching the vote from the gallery since this smacks of intimidation and would not wish this ordeal on anybody, pro- or anti-RH,” Bello said.

With a vote on Wednesday assured, the House session adjourned early Monday night because of a lack of quorum, with only 136 lawmakers responding to a second roll call at 7:45 p.m., down from 183 who were present at 6:30 p.m.

In the Senate, Senator Pia Cayetano, sponsor of the bill, said a scheduled vote set for Dec. 20 was in doubt because of a lack of quorum since many senators might already be out of town by then.

Earlier, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said amendments to the bill would be completed by Monday next week, followed by a vote on second reading. Because there must be three days between the second and third reading, the final vote was set for Dec. 20.

But Cayetano expressed concerns that the vote might not take place.

“Because of the late hour… a lot of our colleagues are no longer here, and I am unable to verify if some of our colleagues [will] still be here on Thursday (December 20) because based on our calendar, we end [the session] on Wednesday (Dec. 19),” she said.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, meanwhile, disputed claims by anti-RH senators that the bill was being railroaded.

“We have to stop at some point, 13 years is enough,” she said, referring to the number of times the bill was filed – and derailed – in Congress.

On the day of the crucial House vote, the bishops will hold a Mass at St. Peter Parish along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City before proceeding to Congress, CBCP’s Castro said. He said supporters and members of several Church-backed organizations would also gather outside Congress to pray for the bill’s rejection.

Members of the academe supporting the RH bill, however, said they were confident of its passage after the final stretch of debates.

“The votes in Congress shot down every ridiculous argument against the RH bill. Clearly, the opposition to RH is untenable and indefensible, it is based on out-dated and conservative conceptions of sexuality and relations between persons and has absolutely no respect for the rights of women over our own bodies,” said Sylvia Estrada-Claudio, the group’s spokesperson. With Macon Ramos-Araneta, Maricel V. Cruz, Vito Barcelo

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