VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 23:15:27 12/10/12 Mon
Author: IMRD
Subject: Dec. 11, 2012 news

Bishops apply pressure on House vs RH bill

* Written by Gerry Baldo
* Tuesday, 11 December 2012 00:00
* font size decrease font size decrease font size increase font size increase font size
* Print
* 8 comments

Rate this item

*
* 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5

(2 votes)

Ranking leaders of the Catholic Church are applying divine pressure on the House of Representatives by attending in full force at the current deliberations on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, which the clergy are vehemently opposing for supposed violation of Catholic beliefs on life preservation.
Bishops said their presence was meant to counter the pressure being applied by President Aquino on legislators to pass the bill.
Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes, the chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Episcopal Commission on Family Life, said bishops would continue to watch House deliberations on the bill to show their support for the anti-RH lawmakers.
Reyes said the RH bill is against the teachings of the Church. Aside from Reyes, seen in the House gallery was Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.
“We are here to show our support to the anti-RH congressmen. The RH-bill is against the teachings of the Catholic Church. It promotes promiscuity, pre-marital sex, extra, marital sex and teen-age pregnancy,” Reyes told reporters.
Reyes also reacted to the statement of Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman that the bishops and other members of religious groups are sowing fear and intimidating the lawmakers who are in favor of the RH bill.
“In a democracy we have a right to stand for something that is not good for the country,” Reyes told House reporters.
Reyes noted that while the Aquino government is trying to put pressure on lawmakers to vote in favor of the RH-Bill, he said the bishops, priests, nuns and other religious groups are in the House to counter the government move.
“We are here to remid them that they are Catholics and that the RH-bill is against the teachings of the Church,” he said.
Reyes stressed that instead of spending billions of pesos for the RH-Bill, the Aquino government should use the money to improve the economy.
Lagman, in a statement yesterday said that the Catholic bishops are welcome during the consideration and voting on the RH bill, but they should not “demean member of Congress by treating them like docile sheep to be watched and shepherded.
“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,” Lagman, the main proponent of the RH bill said.
Lagman said that what Bishops cannot achieve by reason and persuasion, they must not pursue through fear and intimidation.
“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,” The Albay lawmaker said.
Lagman accused the Catholic Church of sowing fear among the lawmakers.
“Fear has always been used by the clergy as an instrument of repression and reprisal like fear of eternal damnation, fear of excommunication, fear of offending religious ministers, fear of contraceptives as abortifacients and carcinogenic, and fear of a demographic winter, all of which are wanting of reasonable and empirical anchorage,” Lagman said.
Reyes directly accused Malacañang of pressuring anti-RH congressmen through the disbursement of their pork barrels.
Reyes urged opponents of the bill or pro-life groups to pray and take part in a protest movement against the passing of the RH Bill when the House is expected to vote on second reading of the bill on Wednesday which is also the feast of our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the unborn.
Reyes said he will lead the celebration of the mass at the St.Peter Cathedral sa Commonwealth Avenue,QC at 12:00 noontime then after mass, prolifers will march to Batasan Pambansa where they stage a vigil.
Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani Jr., had advised prolifers to expose to the public if the reports are true that Malacañang is using as hostage the pork barrel funds of anti-RH congressmen to compel them to vote for the RH Bill Bill
Bishop Bacani in his reaction stated that it is not right for the Palace or the Department of Budget and Management to use their power in pressuring anti RH Bill congressman for an ‘anti life’ bill where it will spread immorality when the law is passed.
The Bishop announced that the allegation should be exposed to the public where the Malacañang is going a through a wrong “straight path”” of President Benigno Aquino III.
Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte also expressed optimism that members of the House who flew to to the United States over the weekend to watch the fourth tiff between Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao amd Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez live, will be back by Wednesday in time for the voting on the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill.
This even as staunch RH Bill proponent, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman warned Catholic bishops who will be in attendance during Wednesday’s voting against any “hostile act” against lawmakers who will be voting for the controversial measure.
In a text message, Belmonte said he had received confirmation from the lawmakers who are still in the US they will be back today, Tuesday, one day ahead of Wednesday’s scheduled voting for the RH Bill. Charlie V. Manalo, Pat C. Santos

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.