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Date Posted: 18:44:52 11/20/12 Tue
Author: IMRD
Subject: Nov. 21, 2012 news

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2012-11-21/869636/rh-bill-still-not-certified-urgent

RH bill still not certified as urgent
By Aurea Calica and Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star) | Updated November 21, 2012 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - There is no word yet if President Aquino will certify as urgent the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte stressed that amendments to the bill being introduced both in the Senate and the House of Representatives are part of the legislative process and Malacañang is just waiting for its outcome.
“We wait to be informed by the House leadership on the positive developments with stakeholders,” Valte said.
The RH bill was finally taken up again in the Senate during Monday’s plenary session. But just when the proponents of the bill were expecting to end the period of amendments and pass the measure on second reading, their opponents introduced a long list of modifications.
Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara urged the President to certify the RH bill as urgent to send a strong message to Congress that he wants the measure approved as he did with the so-called sin tax bill.
“Its certification as an urgent bill will change the equation,” Angara told a news conference.
The RH bill has not moved in the House since Aug. 6, when congressmen voted to close floor debates and start the period of amendments.
Opponents of the bill have resorted to every parliamentary maneuver, including delivering perorations and questioning the quorum, preventing the House from tackling it again.
Angara said such maneuvers under the rules of the House could be expected. “It’s still early to give up hope,” he said.
Rep. Sherwin Tugna of the party-list group Citizens Battle Against Corruption said Aquino’s certification of the RH bill would send a clear and strong message to lawmakers that he wants it approved as soon as possible.
The measure has been in limbo in the House because of Aquino’s “ambivalent” support, some of the bill’s authors said.
Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco said the RH bill would have already been enacted had the President exhibited the same zeal in getting then chief justice Renato Corona removed through impeachment.-With Evelyn Macairan
•
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/11/21/rhs-fate-depends-on-pnoy/


RH’s fate depends on PNoy
By Maricel Cruz | Posted on Nov. 21, 2012 at 12:01am | 479 views
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President Benigno Aquino III has the final say on the fate of the highly contentious Reproductive Health bill in both Houses of Congress, an administration ally said on Tuesday.
“Definitely, the President’s certification that it is an urgent bill, that changes the equation,” Aurora Rep. Edgardo Angara told a news conference.

Senator Vicente Sotto III tells reporters his group will only support those candidates who are against the RH bill. Danny Pata
He said the RH bill would remain in limbo without the President’s imprimatur, but with it the RH bill would move fast.
The substitute bill of House Bill 4244, which was principally authored by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, has been pending for approval on second reading. The substitute bill was the offshoot of the compromise reached by the RH bill’s authors and its critics, which include some “reasonable” members of the Catholic Church.
The anti-RH lawmakers have vowed to block its passage by questioning the legality of the substituted version, which they say should have gone through the committee level first.
But with a certification from the Executive, Angara said, both chambers of Congress would be able to act decisively on the highly contentious measure that the Catholic Church and some lawmakers are vehemently against.
“You can pass it on second and third reading on the same day. You can dispense with the requirements,” Angara said.
He said both the supporters and opponents of the RH bill could not yet tell if the bill would be approved unless it was passed second reading, which was as good as approved on third reading.
“We were ahead. We reached the period of amendments ahead of the Senate, but they seem to be moving at a faster pace,” Angara said.
“Of course, it is easier to accept amendments from 24 senators than it is from 287 congressmen.”
Angara said most of his colleagues were fed up with the lengthy debates on the bill.
“I think some of the congressmen are tired of the debate,” Angara said.
“They just want to vote. I think that’s the truth of the matter.”
Earlier, House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said the House leadership might conduct another round of all-party caucus to speed up the approval of pending bills.

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