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Date Posted: 17:34:02 11/19/12 Mon
Author: IMRD
Subject: Nov 20, 2012

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/309696/win-some-lose-some-in-senates-rh-bill

Win some, lose some in Senate’s RH bill
By Gil C. Cabacungan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
1:44 am | Tuesday, November 20th, 2012
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Sen. Ralph Recto: “It is not about winning rounds. It is about creating good laws.” INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Win some, lose some. That was the outcome Monday during the period of amendments in the Senate for the reproductive health (RH) bill.
By a vote of 13-9, the chamber accepted the amendment proposed by Sen. Ralph Recto not to compel local government units (LGUs) to provide RH services.
The chamber (nine for and seven against) also accepted Recto’s proposal to exempt private institutions from providing mandatory RH services.
But Recto lost his proposal (seven for and 10 against) to raise the age covered by adolescence: from 10-19 years old to 13- 20 years old.
“It is not about winning rounds. It is about creating good laws,” said Recto.
He said LGUs, especially cash-strapped towns, were already burdened with many responsibilities, to provide mandatory health services.
The amended provision reads, “The provision of reproductive healthcare and information must be the primary responsibility of the national government consistent with its obligation to respect, protect and promote the right to health.”
Before the amendment, it was the joint responsibility of the national and the local government to provide RH services.
“How much will this cost the LGU, with all these mandates? If we can’t answer the question of how much, it will be very hard to have a new mandate,” Recto said.
In response, Sen. Pia Cayetano, sponsor of the RH bill, said it was the primary responsibility of local governments to provide health services.
Coming to the defense of the measure, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said: “You cannot send to jail any local official if he can’t carry out his mandate because the government is not giving him money. I think the fear is misplaced.”
Earlier, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile surprised his peers when he revived his move to introduce amendments to the RH bill (a week after asking for more time to review his proposed changes) as most of the senators had steeled themselves for debates on the proposal to hike taxes on cigarettes and alcoholic drinks.
Only three senators—Vicente Sotto III, Teofisto Guingona III and Franklin Drilon—voted to stick with the scheduled debates on the sin tax bill, paving the way for Enrile to introduce six of his 17 proposed amendments to the RH measure.

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/top-stories/35651-senators-give-priority-to-rh-bill

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/11/20/sotto-god-wants-me-to-fight-rh-bill/

Sotto: God wants me to fight RH bill
By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on Nov. 20, 2012 at 12:01am | 608 views
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Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III on Monday vowed not to retreat in his fight against the reproductive health bill despite the bullying he had been suffering on the Internet.
“I believe that God believes that what I am doing is right. I believe that I won’t be here if God didn’t want me to fight for this advocacy,” Sotto told reporters in a breakfast meeting at the Diamond Hotel.
“They can always put me down. I have been accustomed to being criticized, berated and belittled.”
The reproductive health bill aims to guarantee universal access to the methods of contraception, fertility control, sexual education and maternal health care,” but the Catholic Church and some lawmakers are violently against it.
Sotto said he was a lowly musician and not as intelligent as his colleagues, but he would fight for what was right. He vowed to continue fighting the RH bill despite being accused of plagiarism in his speeches against it.
“You may mock me, you may insult me, you can do anything, you can say anything, but that will not change my position against those who are against life, who are pro-abortion, who are pro-immorality for teenagers, who are pro-abortifacients. I will never buck down. I will never give up,” Sotto said.
Senator Pia Cayetano’s has claimed that Sotto is blocking the RH bill because he is not confident he has the numbers.
“Well, she is entitled of her own opinion. I would rather keep my opinion to my chest,” Sotto said.
He said it would be better for the Senate ethics committee to immediately complete its investigation so he could defend himself against the complaints filed against him last week by academics and bloggers over the accusations he plagiarized the 1966 affirmation speech of US Senator Robert Kennedy in South Africa.
“I would rely on what they presented. Just give them [the senators] a copy of the journal,” Sotto said.
“It’s difficult to just rely on the copy of the draft speech. Even those sent to the US bloggers were copy of a draft speech, so that’s a piece of paper. That’s not my speech.”
Sotto said the Senate journal would prove that he never claimed Kennedy’s speech as his own. He said he was not aware if his office had already sent a letter to Kennedy’s daughter Kerry Kennedy to clarify its stand on the issue. He dismissed his critics’ claims that he mangled the late senator’s speech.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/7112-rh-bill-taken-up-sin-tax-in-limbo

RH bill taken up; sin tax in limbo
• Written by Angie M. Rosales
• Tuesday, 20 November 2012 00:00
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Senators yesterday found themselves engaged in debates on the controversial reproductive health (RH) again instead of the anticipated approval of the sin tax bill
The sin tax measure, which Sen. Franklin Drilon said was certain to be passed yesterday but which did not push through, is seen to provide the government’s coffers with some P40 billion to P45 billion incremental revenues from higher excise taxes.
Senate members were virtually lured into resuming deliberations on the RH bill by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile as he took up the challenge posed by one of the sponsors of the measure, Sen. Pia Cayetano, to present his amendments on the measure which he initially refused to do last Tuesday.
Enrile was prompted by what he claimed on the floor were baseless accusations hurled at him by Cayetano and her co-sponsor, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, after he had turned down the call to introduce his pending amendments as he was not ready at that time.
“Indeed, I was not ready at that time,” Enrile said when he took the floor on a matter of personal privilege.
“Much has been said about the desire of the sponsors of the RH bill for the Senate to dispose the final voting on the proposed measure with alacrity. Much has been said also about the alleged effort of those of us who are perceived to be opposed to the present version of the RH bill to thwart the final voting on it. This despite my acceding to the sponsors’ request for me not to proceed with any further interpellation after she once again accused me of delaying the deliberations of the bill.
“No one in this chamber should be unduly rushed into accepting hook, line and sinker every data or assumption presented to us. We should not impute at all ill motives against those who are opposed to your personal position and issues such as this one which has far reaching implications on the future of this country and her people.
“It seems that my honest statement was received with skepticism, or worse, (alleging that I am) holding the bill hostage. I was perceived as delaying the final disposition of the measure by the Senate.
“To put an end to all, all these baseless accusations especially coming from two of my lady colleagues, I’m ready to present my amendments if this chamber will allow me; allow the RH bill to be taken first before any pending measure in this house of the Senate,” he said.
Cayetano, while she was earlier quoted announcing before Senate reporters last Thursday that she will insist for a continuation of the period of amendments on the bill when they resume plenary sessions yesterday, was apparently taken aback by the move taken by the upper chamber leader.
Based on her explanation on the floor, Cayetano decided at the last-minute, to defer to the wishes of another colleague, Senator Drilon, who is sponsoring the bill increasing the rates of sin taxes on alcoholic drinks and tobacco products, as the measure is due for second and third reading, based on the latter’s timetable.
“I would like to propose an amendment to the motion (of Enrile). As a sponsor, I’m always ready to take up the bill. However, I have also given my commitment to the sponsor of the sin tax that I will patiently support and allow the sin tax bill to be taken up first thing in the day. So what I propose, because my understanding was, we will take it to the its conclusion today hopefully, that we take this up after,” Cayetano said, adding that she’s more than happy to accommodate not only Enrile but also Sen. Ralph Recto who likewise has pending amendments to the bill.
The two senators, Cayetano previously claimed, were the only ones left among those who had lined up for interpellations.
But Enrile would not hear of her excuses or even allow Cayetano to amend his motion, to which by Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III had objected as well.
“So I ask for a vote. I delivered a personal privilege speech, I asked the floor and I was granted the floor, I made a motion and it was accepted, seconded...there was an objection, I’m entitled to a vote on my motion,” he said.
“I must confess that it has taken me some time to study once again the RH bill because unfortunately for me, I have an impaired vision and I had to enlarge the font of the RH bill in order for me to go over it and prepare my amendments and I have quite a number of amendments. And I’m ready to take the floor this aftrnoon to present the amendments if the plenary session of the Senate will allow me to do it,” Enrile explained.
Sotto’s opposition to Enrile’s call was due to the fact that the matter concerning RH bill is not included in their agenda for the day, as they’re supposed to take up the sin tax bill.
“I have to put it on record that I object on the grounds that in the House of Representatives, they are practically finished with the budget and the sin tax bill, they can take up the RH bill but they’re not taking it up.
“In the Senate, we have an agenda, we have the sin tax bill, we have the budget to be taken up and we want to discuss the RH bill. But that again, I leave it to the body, just for the record, I’m sorry Mr. Senate president, I disagree,” Sotto said.
Drilon entered the picture as he pleaded to colleagues to put aside the bill and instead proceed with the sin tax bill to expedite the process as it will enable him to sponsor Monday the proposed P2.006-trillion national budget for 2013.
“I would plead to everyone to give us the opportunity to vote on the sin tax. If at the end of the day, we have a version which is unacceptable to the committee, I will accept the vote and say that this is now the version approved by the Senate. We just want to put this aside so that when we debate on the budget starting tomorrow. We know how much will go to the unfunded portion of the budget as that is the budget provides under the portion of an unfunded program, a P13.5 billion for the Philhealth program. That’s all we are requesting,” Drilon said.
“I would like to make it of record that I have no intention to delay the discussion on the sin tax bill. But I assure you that it will not take me more than 20 minutes to present my amendments. There are 17 amendments that I will present and it’s up to the sponsors if they will accept or not but if they will not accept my amendment, I will ask for a division of the house. It will not take long and I would suggest that we sacrifice a little bit and we’ll hold the session until midnight tonight,” Enrile responded.
At least 11 senators sided with Enrile and only three voted against his call.
The supposed 20-minute discussion extended to nearly three hours with the last hour and a half eaten up by Recto, who proceeded in debating with Cayetano after Enrile moved to continue with the debates with Cayetano on another date.
Recto, for his part, duplicated Enrile’s moves even as he had already furnished Cayetano a copy of his proposed amendments to the bill last Thursday as he previously promised.
“I did also promise the distinguished lady last week that I will take this up today, if that will be part of the agenda, amendments to the RH bill. In fact I already submitted my amendments to the distinguished lady last Thursday if I’m not mistaken, an advance copy which is rarely done in the Senate, just to show that I am prepared to take up any bill, whether it’s the RH or the sin tax bill,” he said.
The senators were called to a halt by Drilon as he appealed anew for a suspension of consideration of the bill and take up the sin tax measure instead.

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