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Date Posted: 21:33:04 12/19/12 Wed
Author: IMRD
Subject: Dec. 19, 2012 news


http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/12/20/congress-ratifies-rh-bicam-report/

Congress ratifies RH bicam report
By Christine F. Herrera | Posted on Dec. 20, 2012 at 12:01am | 481 views
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The House and Senate on Tuesday night ratified the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, ending a long and often heated legislative battle to provide government funding for contraceptives and sex education in schools.
Earlier in the day, the bicameral conference committee hammered out the differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill in a five-hour marathon session.

All’s well that ends well. Reproductive Health bill sponsor Senator Pia Cayetano huddles with Senator and RH bill opposer Vicente Sotto III over the signing of the bill’s final draft by the bicameral panel at the Senate. Ey Acasio
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, who presided over the House session, thanked the 224 lawmakers who showed up to complete the task while leaving “no blood on the floor” – a reference to the often acrimonious debates between those who supported the bill and those who opposed it.
The Senate earlier ratified the reconciled version of the bill by a vote of 11 to 5.
The bill will be sent to President Benigno Aquino III for signing.
Once it is in effect, the law will give Filipinos access to reproductive health services, including contraceptives. It will also provide for mandatory reproductive health and sex education in schools for children aged 10 to 19.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of House version of the bill, said the government is mandated to promote reproductive health, including voluntary contraception, with an emphasis on the poor and the marginalized.
“The national government and the local government units are jointly responsible for the implementation of the reproductive health law with the LGUs receiving financial and technical assistance from the national government,” Lagman said.
Under the ratified measure, the Department of Education is mandated to formulate the curriculum for the use of public schools and adaptable to private schools.
Since the President certified the bill as urgent, the debate over the contentious provisions of the bill took only five hours to complete. The joint panel agreed to reconcile the two versions at 2 p.m., and the bicameral report was signed at 2:30 p.m.
At 7:48 p.m., the House contingent arrived in the House to submit the bicameral report for ratification.
The ratified document, signed by Belmonte and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, will be sent to the Palace for the President’s signature.
In the Senate, Enrile and Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III maintained their stance to reject the bill.
Enrile said his vote was a matter of conscience, faith and his notion of the national government.
While his amendments were included in the final report, Sotto, said he cannot condone the “foreign dictation” that marred the passage of the bill.
Enrile and Sotto were among the five senators who cast a negative vote. The others were Senate
President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Gregorio Honasan and Aquilino Pimentel III.
Those who voted in favor of the bill were Senator Pia Cayetano, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senators Joker Arroyo, Edgardo Angara, Franklin Drilon, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Teofisto Guingona III, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Serge Osmena III, Loren Legarda and Panfilo Lacson.
In reporting the results reached by the bicameral conference committee, Cayetano said most of the Senate provisions were adopted. These included the removal of any reference to international treaties and agreements, an amendment Sotto sought.
Another amendment sought by both Enrile and Sotto, to remove references to population and development, was also adopted.
On sex education, Cayetano said the bicameral conference committee retained the Senate version as amended by Recto that the Education Department will formulate the curriculum for public schools without prejudice to private schools adopting the same.
Cayetano also said passages in the bill against abortion were strengthened – as Enrile and Sotto had sought.
“And finally, for the curiosity and pleasure of the body, the term ‘safe and satisfying sex’ was retained, and this was further improved and it now reads, ‘responsible, consensual, safe and satisfying sex.’”
Lacson described the bicameral conference committee meeting as “very conciliatory.”
“It was not contentious. It was not heated,” he said. He also said there were no fireworks between Cayetano and Sotto, as had happened previously on the Senate floor.
As the bill looked certain to become a law, Catholic bishops accused President Aquino of behaving like a dictator in pressuring lawmakers to approve the reproductive health measure, which the Church has denounced as being “anti-life.”
Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes said Malacañang dangled pork barrel to get the majority of lawmakers on their side, a charge the Palace has denied.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines also said they would support a group of Catholic lawyers, who will contest the law before the Supreme Court.
“I know that a group of Catholic lawyers has a plan to make an appeal before the Supreme Court because it’s against the Constitution…against religious freedom,” Reyes said.
“The Constitution states that the government should protect the family and marriage. The RH bill is against the goodness of family and the stability of marriage,” he said.
Before Wednesday’s vote, versions of the RH bill had been filed in Congress since 1998, but never reached a vote because of a strong Catholic lobby. With Macon R. Araneta, Maricel Cruz and Vito Barcelo
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/327105/rh-bicam-satisfying-pleasurable

RH bicam: Satisfying, pleasurable
1:02 am | Thursday, December 20th, 2012

HOW SWEET IT IS Principal sponsors of RH bill Sen. Pia Cayetano and Rep. Edcel Lagman enjoy their moment of victory after the final version of the RH bill was approved during the Congress bicameral meeting on Wednesday. RAFFY LERMA
What was supposed to be a meeting marked by fireworks and verbal jousts turned out to be “reproductive,” “satisfying” and “pleasurable.”
These were the words the senators used to describe the bicameral conference on the reproductive health (RH) bill where the Senate and the House of Representatives reconciled the conflicting provisions of the versions they approved separately.
On Wednesday night, the Senate (11-5) and the House (which resorted to voice voting) ratified the bicameral report on the RH bill. The ratification came just two days after both chambers of Congress approved it on third and final reading.
“In fairness to Sen. Pia Cayetano, she really defended the Senate version as what was her commitment. I think that was what touched (Senate Majority Leader) Tito Sotto who joked about sponsoring the bicameral report on the floor,” Sen. Panfilo Lacson said after the nearly five-hour meeting.


http://opinion.inquirer.net/43069/an-rh-billboard-id-like-to-see

An RH bill(board) I’d like to see
By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11:01 pm | Wednesday, December 19th, 2012
Billboards from hell have been this column’s objects of ire for the longest time. But as they say, if you can’t lick them, you might as well join them. Anti-billboard advocates might as well put up their own to replace some of the unsightly and distracting ads that obstruct our view of the sky.
What’s this got to do with the RH (reproductive health) bill? More on this later.
Many thoughts have been running through my mind these past months that the RH bill was being debated in both the House of Representatives and the Senate and by the pros and the antis who have vigorously, relentlessly and heroically defended their respective positions according to the dictates of their consciences and hopefully not because of the urgings of their party, religious or industry affiliations.
Kudos to both sides. In the end only one side wins, though it is not necessarily winner-takes-all. There have been and will be more give and take, as exemplified by the last-minute amendments that a principal author, Sen. Pia Cayetano, accepted magnanimously. But not Sen. Tito Sotto’s proposal to strike out the word “satisfying” in the phrase “safe and satisfying sex” (that women are entitled to). Cayetano held her ground, with RH bill coauthor Sen. Miriam Santiago declaring that any man married to her must give her safe and satisfying sex. Knowing Santiago, I thought she would add that “satisfying” was an understatement.
Sotto’s feigning squeamishness and saying that “satisfying” ran against Filipino taste were laughable. How TH (trying hard), I must say. Come on, Filipinos are so openly libidinous in words and deed. Was Sotto playing to the gallery? I doubt if the clerics and nuns in the gallery—many of them perhaps well-versed in the theology of the body—were amused by Sotto’s display of “conservatism.” Anti-RH they may be like Sotto, but I don’t think they believe that they came into this world by immaculate conception and not as a result of the satisfying, pleasurable and pyroclastic physical—add spiritual and emotional—procreative union of their parents.
With the RH bill now passed in the two chambers and the two versions soon to be as one (The bicameral conference committee approved the reconciled measure yesterday-ED.), we expect both the pros and the antis to buckle down and make that piece of legislation work for the good. I have always thought that after all the arguments have been weighed in the sanctum sanctorum of each lawmaker’s conscience, the resulting votes should represent vox populi. The antis who might insist that it is not vox Dei can either throw in the towel or be vigilant so that what they had opposed would not become the “evil” that they had warned about.
For example, a number of the anti-RH lawmakers have brought up the so-called demographic winter, or the alarming population decline in countries with legislated population control. Sure, that is a legit issue, but now that we have learned about the whys of it, we can avoid their path to the wintry horizon. The Philippines should be so lucky that those countries got to that “point of no return” ahead of us and so we can now make our own way and have a vibrant, healthy, sustainable—and not runaway—population growth. Note the word “growth.”
The word population conjures up faceless, nameless numbers. But real persons with names and faces make for the best arguments. All throughout the debates, I would think of poor urban families living under bridges, street families living in the bushes, couples copulating in pushcarts, mothers giving birth near slimy esteros, naked toddlers defecating as food cooks nearby. Persons I have met. And in remote areas in the countryside, appalling poverty in threatened mountain sanctuaries and places by the sea.


http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2012-12-20/888023/rh-bill-twitches-bicam-hearing

RH bill twitches at bicam hearing
FROM THE STANDS By Domini M. Torrevillas (The Philippine Star) | Updated December 20, 2012 - 12:00am
And we thought the pro-RH bill proponents have won the battle after the Senate and House of Representatives approved on third and final reading the reproductive health measure Monday. Just minutes after the approval of the two bills, the main author of the bill in the Senate and chair of the Senate committee on health and demography Sen. Pia Cayetano promptly presented the composition of the Senate panel for the bicameral conference committee which would reconcile the conflicting versions of the bill. But the first meeting of the committee, set for Tuesday afternoon, did not push through on account of the opposition of the Senate bill’s strongest opponents — Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III.
Senator Sotto questioned Cayetano’s violation of rules of the Senate, i.e., that it is the Senate president who should designate the members of the Senate panel in the bicam, and that no clean copy of the Senate’s approved bill had been submitted to the House.
Senator Cayetano, who impressively defended the bill she authored before her colleagues Monday, said the rule may be there, but the practice has always been that the committee chair is given the privilege of appointing the committee members, and in the matter of a clean copy of the bill, the rule had not been invoked, so why is it being raised now? I agree with many observers that the opposition of the two male Roman Catholic senators is being done to delay the process  of discussing and reconciling the versions of the bill.
This delaying tactic elicited the comment of an eminent lawyer, Alfredo Tadiar: “The bill is not even passed yet.” The development in Congress last Monday had Catholic prelates brandishing swords against the reproductive health bill. Tadiar said, “I feel sad that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines vows to continue the fight against reproductive health even if it divides the nation. There is no acceptance of majority will. I sense the danger of sectarian dominance of governments — national and local.”
This brings to mind Tadiar’s position paper against Barangay Ordinance No. 01 Series of 2011 of Barangay Tortugas, Balanga City, where he defines “sectarian” to mean being “devote to, peculiar to, pertaining to or promotive of, the interest of a sect. In a broader sense, (it is) used to describe the activities of the followers of one faith as related to those of adherents of another.” It also means, wrote Tadiar, of it being a “Roman Catholic doctrine that life begins at conception and that all artificial contraceptives are immoral. It is the total prohibition against artificial contraceptives and deprivation of choice in family planning methods, that is at the core of the challenge ordinance.
“A sectarian state is what the Philippines definitely was during the 400 years that it was a colony of Spain — a sectarian colony effectively governed by the Roman Catholic Church, “ wrote Tadiar. “The absolute control of political processes and even of the social life of the people, are what characterize a sectarian state. An example that easily comes to mind is that of the fundamentalist Taliban in Afghanistan. Despite its overthrow, the Taliban continues to wage war against the Western powers to sustain its hard line view that subjugates women. Iraq and Iran are other examples to be wary about.”
Tadiar cited the danger of turning sectarian. He said, “Democracy and the Rule of Law cannot thrive in a sectarian state. It is well to recall our colonial history when an independent Governor General, Fernando Bustamante y Bustillo, who dared to have an archbishop arrested in his effort to make them accountable, was himself assassinated in a 1717 friar-led revolt.”
He mentioned the Inquisition associated with Tomas de Torquemada as Inquisitor General who was responsible for burning at the stake about 2,000 persons in Spain between 1480 and 1530 who were claimed to be heretics for being Jews or Muslims or for acting on religious views contrary to Catholicism. Torquemada has become a byword for fanaticism  in the service of the Catholic religion.
“By taking its announced war against the RH Bill pending in Congress that is now polarizing the country into believers and non-believers of Roman Catholic moral doctrines to the media — print and TV the clear impression cannot be escaped that the Roman Catholic Church has mobilized its followers not only at the national level but now also at the Barangay levels to pass the questioned ordinance against contraceptives.
“I see what is happening as an attempt by a sector of the Catholic Church to instrumentalize the power of the state to impose Catholic belief on all others. This is something which gives the Catholic religion a bad name. It is reminiscent of the Inquisition. If that distinct impression proves correct, the ineluctable conclusion follows that the Roman Catholic Church is exerting utmost efforts to turn local government units, starting with the barangays, into sectarian ones, as lamentably they were and had been during the Spanish colonial era.
As under the Spanish colonial era, the Philippines will have retrogressed and turned back the hands of time to be governed by the medieval laws of that sectarian era, Tadiar said. “It is important to always bear in mind that it was against that sectarian rule that the Philippines mounted the first revolution in Asia against a colonial power.”
* * *
Senators Enrile and Sotto, having lost their struggle to have the Senate bill killed, are dead set on creating barriers to having a law that benefits women. Let’s wait and see how the bicameral committee hurdles this dilemma.
* * *
A PHILCONSA party held at the Manila Golf Club showed the generous spirit of the association’s officers and members. In just a few minutes, at the invitation of chairman/ CEO Manuel Lazaro, a donation of P322,000 was raised for the victims of super-typhoon Pablo through the Philippine Red Cross. The party was hosted by Rep. Martin Among the illustrious members of the Romualdez, PHILCONSA president. organization are former Chief Justice Reynato Puno, president emeritus, former Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco, chairman emeritus, Ambassador James Dee, governor and vice-president for finance, and Nelia Gonzalez, governor and treasurer.
* * *
Nothing bests roasted turkey for your noche buena, or New Year’s celebration, if it comes from the kitchen of Prime Quizon. If the turkey is tender and delicious, it’s because it comes from Prime and husband Gil’s model turkey farm in Antipolo. The fowl is raised organically, without chemical feeds and bad stuff. You can order the roasted turkey, or buy it frozen, along with other products like organic chicken, eggs and rice, plus bottled adobo flakes and sisig. For orders, call Gracie at 703 2759, or walk over to Unit 6 B, Ash Creek Center, Ortigas Ave., cor. Madison, Greenhills. The store also sells Zonito’s famous bread with sprinklings of malunggay and malunggay juice and healthy snacks like shing-a-ling and banana and cassava chips, and guyabano tea from Domini’s Kitchen.
* * *
My e-mail:dominitorrevillas@gmail.com


http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2012-12-20/888027/rh-bill-passage-humbling-moment

RH bill passage: A humbling moment!
SHOOTING STRAIGHT By Bobit S. Avila (The Philippine Star) | Updated December 20, 2012 - 12:00am
I look at the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill in both legislative houses in the Senate and Congress last Monday as a watershed in Philippine history as it gives us a not-so-true-picture of the kind of people who represent the Filipino people in the Legislature. I have always looked at these people as nothing but greedy politicians who feed on the poverty of our people, blaming even the poor for having too many children, but never blaming themselves for feasting in the pork paid for by the taxpayers of this country. They call our overseas Filipino workers (OFW) as heroes, but even in honoring the OFW, they mostly get lip service from our politicians.
I look at this RH incident as a “humbling moment” especially for the Catholic Church and the realization that we Filipinos despite the millions that troop to the Feast of the Nazarene in Quiapo or during the Sinulog Week in Cebu City have become mere Catholics in name. I spent a huge part of Tuesday afternoon before the Blessed Sacrament, asking our Lord, “O Lord, have thou forsaken our nation?” I’m sure that God himself was disappointed and I can only ask the Lord to forgive our Congressmen and Senators for they know not what they do!
At this point, it is time for the Catholic Church to get its act together. In this spiritual battle, we have encountered priests and even Bishops who send confusing signals to the Laity about the RH bill. Perhaps the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) should seriously consider ways to strengthen our Catholic faith, and openly support the recent moves to create the Catholic Vote Movement so politicians will take notice.
Meanwhile, allow me to take a post RH bill comment from Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, Archbishop of Lingayen, Dagupan who said “The Reproductive Health bill has been passed by the Senate and Congress through a majority vote. They might have won through the tyranny of numbers but it does not mean that they are right. It is only a matter of time and then we will see more violations of “Thou shall not kill” and “Thou shall not commit adultery” among our families, our youth and children. If the President will sign this into law, he will give us a moral time bomb wrapped as a gift to celebrate Christmas. This law will open more doors to abortion and more crimes against women.” We are recording these arguments for future use.
At this point, allow me to congratulate the brave Senators and Congressmen and women who fought long and hard and more importantly, kept the faith and voted against the RH bill. They have fought a good fight, but history will judge their actions whether they are right and we are wrong. One thing is sure… Filipinos nowadays are no longer as religious as they were 25 years ago and if we fall from grace, we only have ourselves to blame.
The Greatest Commandment taught by our Lord Jesus Christ is to Love God with all your heart, your strength and your soul… and your neighbor as thyself. But the approval of the RH bill has tipped the scales away from God, whom we should love first, but greed, lust for power and materialism have overcome the people’s Representatives and I’m sure there are many Filipinos out there who are just as disappointed as we are.
In an article by Michael Voris, entitled “Suicide by Heresy” emailed to me, Voris says “When a heresy is left unchecked… people’s minds are poisoned. When their minds are poisoned… they actually lose the ability to perceive the truth any longer and they begin to live a lie.” I used this quote because in order to have this bill passed, the pro-RH Congressmen and their supporters used all kinds of squid tactics and even outright falsehood just to have this bill passed and it saddens me that their venom succeeded.
Where do we go from here? Divorce? Enough already! Even the Liberal Party issued a statement thanking the Senators and Congressmen “for engaging each other to forge a law that truly reflects the will of the people they represent. We thank an active citizenry that engaged our legislators in discourse as regards the merits of the bill. Through it all, the Liberal Party stood firm in its bedrock principles.” It makes you wonder what those bedrock principles are… the lying, the cheating even during the Congressional vote?
How far will the Liberal Party go in its pursuit to keep its power? In Cebu City, the Liberal Party isn’t really a huge party as it has to rely on the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) of Rep. Tomas Osmeña. In the Province of Cebu, it is the One Cebu Party that is dominant. But the Liberal Party has something up their sleeves… they can count on the Office of the Ombudsman to suspend Governor Gwen F. Garcia. Hmmm, no wonder the LP’s are not even campaigning in Cebu… not only will they get rid of Gov. Gwen courtesy of the Ombudsman… they also have the PCOS machine!
* * *
For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mo-pzcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.


http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/top-stories/37783-senate-house-bicam-ratify-reproductive-health-bill

SENATE, HOUSE BICAM RATIFY REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL
•
•
Published on 20 December 2012
Hits: 224
Written by JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA, CATHERINE S. VALENTE AND LLANESCA T. PANTI REPORTERS

Members of the Bicameral Conference Committee flash the thumbs up sign after the RH bill was approved by the panel.



THE Senate on Wednesday formally ratified what is considered to be a less controversial reproductive health (RH) bill which seeks to improve public access to reproductive health services, including natural and artificial family planning options.

Voting 11-5 the Senate accepted that bicameral version of the bill and leaving its fate on the hands of President Benigno Aquino 3rd who earlier certified the bill as urgent.

The RH bill seeks to promote better maternal care, responsible parenthood, and youth education on sexual and reproductive health issues.

President Aquino on Wednesday said that he expected both the RH bill and the sin tax bill on his table before December 31 for his signature.

Meanwhile, what was once considered impossible finally came through last night after the House of Representatives ratified the controversial reproductive health bill on Wednesday night via a viva voce vote.

Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay, the principal author of the reproductive health bill in the House, noted that the RH measure hurdled the Bicameral Conference Committee retaining the empowerment of women and couples to freely and responsibly determine the number and spacing of their children.

There were 224 lawmakers present during the viva voce voting, the last day of session for 2012.

Moreover, Lagman cited that the RH bill also authorized to promote reproductive health, including voluntary contraception, prioritizing the poor and the marginalized.

“The national government and the local government units [LGUs] are jointly responsible for the implementation of the reproductive health law with the LGUs receiving financial and technical assistance from the national government,” Lagman said in a statement.

In his speech during the signing of the 2013 General Appropriations Act, the President thanked Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile for the passage of the national budget as well as for tackling the RH bill and sin tax measure.

“Siyempre po inaasahan nating lalapag sa aking mesa upang malagdaan ko ang mga batas na natukoy sa lalong madaling panahon, preferably ho this year [Of course, I expect these bills to land on my table for signing at the soonest possible time, preferably this year],” the President said

Likewise, Strategic Communications Secretary Ramon Carandang said that the sin tax reform measure may be signed by the President into law within the week.

Senators who voted in favor of the bill were Senators Edgardo Angara, Joker Arroyo, Alan Peter Cayetano, and sibling Pia Cayetano, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Franklin Drilon, Teofisto Guingona 3rd, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Serge Osmeña 3rd.

Those who voted against were Enrile, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto 3rd, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Gregorio Honasan and Aquilino Pimentel 3rd.

Senate version defended
True to her word, Sen. Pia Cayetano, defended the Senate version of the reproductive health bill before the Bicameral Conference Committee and was able to retain the amendments earlier introduced by some Senators.

One of the contentious provisions the bicameral panel was able to reconcile is the proposal to grant minors access to contraceptives. The lawmakers agreed that teenagers will only be given contraceptives upon securing parental consent.

On the other hand, minors who already have a live-in partner or have a child may avail of the contraceptives even without parental consent.

The final RH bill version also mandates all government hospitals to distribute contraceptives for free. The mandate, however, will remain optional for private hospitals.

As for the RH education the Department of Education (DepEd) will come up with guidelines that will be used by all public schools in teaching students about RH, while private schools will have an option to adopt the said guidelines or craft their own.

Cayetano also was able to retain highly contested phrase “safe and satisfying sex life” in the final version of the bill.

It was Sotto, who moved to strike out the phrase during the period of amendments saying that it is not acceptable to Filipino culture.

But Cayetano argued that the phrase simply recognize the right of women to be intimate and enjoy her personal relations with their husbands.

Meanwhile, the bicameral panel scrapped the amendment introduced by Sen. Ralph Recto seeking to remove the responsibility from local government units in implementing the RH law.

Sotto in an interview said that he is satisfied by the way pro RH lawmakers defended the Senate version and admitted that the final version of the bicameral has lessened some of his apprehensions towards the bill.

Enrile, who is also anti-RH, in an interview before the session maintained that his vote will be based on his conscience, faith and the notion of the national good that is why he couldn’t vote in favor of the bill.

“Either way, they have the numbers to pass it. I’ll probably register a negative vote to be consistent,” he added.

Lacson, who is also part Senate bicameral panel described the meeting on RH bill as “very conciliatory” that is why the discussions did not last long and the panel were able to approved it in one day.

“It was a very reproductive afternoon, a reproductive day after all,” Lacson said.
http://www.tribuneonline.org/index.php/headlines/item/8379-noy-asked-to-intervene-on-foi-bill

Noy asked to intervene on FoI bill
• Written by Mario J. Mallari and Gerry Baldo
• Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:00
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The way with which the Reproductive Health (RH) bill went through the legislative mill should also be the approach with which the Freedom of Information (FoI) bill should be passed.
But Malacañang is not keen on heeding the call to certify the FoI bill, which is still pending in the House of Representatives, as urgent.
San Juan City Rep. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito Estrada yesterday reiterated his appeal after the House committee on public information chaired by Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone failed to report it out in the plenary for second reading last Tuesday.
“If the President is serious in eradicating corruption in government, he should certify the FoI bill as urgent,” the lawmaker stressed. “The President and his allies in the House should prioritize the passage of the bill for the sake of accountability and transparency.”
House Majority Floor Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales was quoted as saying the proposed measure would have to take a backseat, as lawmakers have to fast-track discussions on the controversial RH bill, which was approved on third reading last Monday.
According to Gonzales, the equally controversial FoI bill could be discussed when Congress resumes session on Jan. 21 next year.
Ejercito Estrada noted that 17 senators were able to approve the FoI bill on third and final reading, just two days before lawmakers go on a Christmas break.
In a statement, the UNA senatorial candidate thanked the senators who “courageously voted” to approve the bill on third reading.
“The passage of the FoI bill is crucial for the good governance thrust of the government and its battle against corruption,” Ejercito Estrada added.
Presidential Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang, however, also yesterday said that while the counterpart measure of FoI has been passed in the Senate, known as the People’s Ownership of Government Information, the Aquino administration is closely watching arguments in the lower chamber.
“FoI (bill) has been passed by the Senate, and the process is ongoing in the House (of Representatives). We’re watching what’s happening in the House, we’re taking note of the arguments for and against,” he stressed.
But the Palace official admitted that “at this point, we have no plans to certify this as urgent.”
Asked why the administration is not inclined to certify the FoI bill as urgent, Carandang replied “because there’s a process that has to go. The President, as he said to you himself, he doesn’t certify many bills as urgent and there’s a process that’s happening…that’s organic process, we just need to follow it.”
“There are debates, there are good debates going on in the House (of Representatives) and if you listen very carefully, there are very good arguments for and against the FoI. I think Congress needs time to reach a consensus,” Carandang added.
Rep. Sherwin Tugna of the party-list Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption, for his part said he is hoping that the FoI hurdles Congress swiftly as well as the RH bill.
“As the House of Representatives exercised its parliamentary will in passing the divisive RH bill, I hope that my colleagues would be as exigent and as swift in passing the Freedom of Information Act.”
Tugna noted that the passing of the FoI bill in the Senate is a clear signal that the lawmakers are committed to transparency in government.
“The passage of the FoI bill in the Senate is a clear message that the nation’s lawmakers are committed in making government as transparent as possible. Transparency is the only way to keep government accountable and answerable to the people. The access to information pertaining to public dealings and contracts would largely help in monitoring any shady or what is commonly referred as ‘under the table’ dealings which happen on closed-door meetings,” Tugna said.

Noy asked to intervene on FoI bill
• Written by Mario J. Mallari and Gerry Baldo
• Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:00
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The way with which the Reproductive Health (RH) bill went through the legislative mill should also be the approach with which the Freedom of Information (FoI) bill should be passed.
But Malacañang is not keen on heeding the call to certify the FoI bill, which is still pending in the House of Representatives, as urgent.
San Juan City Rep. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito Estrada yesterday reiterated his appeal after the House committee on public information chaired by Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone failed to report it out in the plenary for second reading last Tuesday.
“If the President is serious in eradicating corruption in government, he should certify the FoI bill as urgent,” the lawmaker stressed. “The President and his allies in the House should prioritize the passage of the bill for the sake of accountability and transparency.”
House Majority Floor Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales was quoted as saying the proposed measure would have to take a backseat, as lawmakers have to fast-track discussions on the controversial RH bill, which was approved on third reading last Monday.
According to Gonzales, the equally controversial FoI bill could be discussed when Congress resumes session on Jan. 21 next year.
Ejercito Estrada noted that 17 senators were able to approve the FoI bill on third and final reading, just two days before lawmakers go on a Christmas break.
In a statement, the UNA senatorial candidate thanked the senators who “courageously voted” to approve the bill on third reading.
“The passage of the FoI bill is crucial for the good governance thrust of the government and its battle against corruption,” Ejercito Estrada added.
Presidential Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang, however, also yesterday said that while the counterpart measure of FoI has been passed in the Senate, known as the People’s Ownership of Government Information, the Aquino administration is closely watching arguments in the lower chamber.
“FoI (bill) has been passed by the Senate, and the process is ongoing in the House (of Representatives). We’re watching what’s happening in the House, we’re taking note of the arguments for and against,” he stressed.
But the Palace official admitted that “at this point, we have no plans to certify this as urgent.”
Asked why the administration is not inclined to certify the FoI bill as urgent, Carandang replied “because there’s a process that has to go. The President, as he said to you himself, he doesn’t certify many bills as urgent and there’s a process that’s happening…that’s organic process, we just need to follow it.”
“There are debates, there are good debates going on in the House (of Representatives) and if you listen very carefully, there are very good arguments for and against the FoI. I think Congress needs time to reach a consensus,” Carandang added.
Rep. Sherwin Tugna of the party-list Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption, for his part said he is hoping that the FoI hurdles Congress swiftly as well as the RH bill.
“As the House of Representatives exercised its parliamentary will in passing the divisive RH bill, I hope that my colleagues would be as exigent and as swift in passing the Freedom of Information Act.”
Tugna noted that the passing of the FoI bill in the Senate is a clear signal that the lawmakers are committed to transparency in government.
“The passage of the FoI bill in the Senate is a clear message that the nation’s lawmakers are committed in making government as transparent as possible. Transparency is the only way to keep government accountable and answerable to the people. The access to information pertaining to public dealings and contracts would largely help in monitoring any shady or what is commonly referred as ‘under the table’ dealings which happen on closed-door meetings,” Tugna said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/326961/senate-ratifies-rh-bill

Senate ratifies RH bill
By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
6:57 pm | Wednesday, December 19th, 2012

MANILA, Philippines – The controversial Reproductive Health is now just a step away from becoming a law after the Senate ratified the measure on Wednesday.
Eleven senators adopted the bicameral committee report on the bill while five senators reiterated their vote against it.
The 11 senators were Pia Cayetano, Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, Joker Arroyo, Edgardo Angara, Franklin Drilon, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Teofisto Guingona III, Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos Jr., Loren Legarda, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, and Sergio Osmena III.
Osmena was sick and could not vote on the bill when the Senate voted on it on third and final reading last Monday.
The five who reiterated their ‘no vote’ were Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile, Senate Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy Estrada, Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and Senators Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Gringo Honasan.
It was Senator Pia Cayetano, head of the Senate committee on health, and on women , who reported on the floor the outcome of the bicameral meeting held hours before the ratification.
Cayetano said the following salient features of the measure were approved in the bicam:
• Any person will be allowed access to Reproductive Health and family planning services except minors unless they have the consent of their parents or guardians. A minor , who is already a parent or one has had a miscarriage, would also be allowed access to RH services.
• All public healthcare facilities are mandated under the measure to family planning method “without prejudice to private healthcare facilities extending the same…”
• The measure also required mandatory RH education to adolescents aged between 10 to 19 in all public school. The Department of Education will formulate the curriculum for public schools also “without prejudice to private schools adopting the same.”
• Local government units, under the measure, will be “encouraged to comply with their mandate to provide healthcare service…with funding and other kind of assistance from the national government.
• The measure also made it clear that it would not promote nor condone abortion.

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