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Date Posted: 00:28:20 09/19/12 Wed
Author: IMRD
Subject: Sept. 19, 2011 news

http://www.malaya.com.ph/index.php/business/160-news-flash/13370-stop-rh-debate-now

Business
Stop RH debate now!
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Published on Wednesday, 19 September 2012 00:00
Written by DUCKY PAREDES
By A Web design Company

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‘(B)illions and billions of sperm cells die, nearly 400 egg cells during the 30 fertile years of a woman die, and most fertilized eggs die. So what is the big deal about aborting a fertilized egg or preventing fertilization in the first place?’
WE have a letter from Flor Lacanilao, a retired scientist who has an interesting view on the debate on the RH Bill:
“End the Rh Debate and save us from embarrassment. Consider the following:
“On contraception, Enrile echoed the Church’s argument that once fertilization takes place in the womb there already is life and we do not have the moral right to terminate life.
“Life does not begin at fertilization or in the womb. The human egg (or ovum) and sperm are both alive. The egg is the biggest cell in the human body; sperm, the smallest. There are 50 to 500 million sperm cells per ejaculation. There are 13 egg cells released per year in a fertile woman. All of them die – egg and sperm cells – except the one sperm and one egg that fuse at fertilization. But most of the fertilized eggs or zygotes also die sooner or later.
“In other words, billions and billions of sperm cells die, nearly 400 egg cells during the 30 fertile years of a woman die, and most fertilized eggs die. So what is the big deal about aborting a fertilized egg or preventing fertilization in the first place?
“You might say that human life was created (as religion teaches) or, it evolved (as science teaches). Either way, human life has since persisted, by perpetuation of species through reproduction – formation, release, and union of egg and sperm cells. Human life will end only when man becomes extinct.
“Scientists do not debate religious views. They try to explain science to those who want to learn. ‘Science and religion are different ways of understanding. Needlessly placing them in opposition reduces the potential of both to contribute to a better future.’
“Shouldn’t Congress stop the prolonged debate on the RH bill now? Too much of its time and energy, and the people’s money, have been wasted this past over 10 years. It doesn’t really matter whether Congress votes yes or no. As has been shown by successful family planning programs in the developing world, the solutions to the problems addressed in the Reproductive Health bill do not depend on its approval.
“Countries familiar with the reasons why we are still underdeveloped know that. So do our neighbors that left us behind. Most obvious is the poor state of science and higher education in the country. And the best indicator of that poor state is the still ongoing debate on the RH bill, in the 21st century.” – Flor Lacanilao, retired professor of marine science, UP Diliman
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Does every one ignore the SALN Law? How can so many get away with not submitting their SALNs?
Officials and employees of the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) have renewed their call for chairwoman Brigida-Zenaida Pawid to resign.
This was after they found out she has not been filing her statement of assets, liabilities and networth (SALN).
The Office of the Ombudsman issued a certification that Pawid has not filed any SALN for the past 11 years -- from 1990 to 2011 -- in violation of Republic Act No. 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees).Section 8 of RA 6713 requires all public officials and employees to file their SALN within 30 days from the date of their assumption of office and every year thereafter.
Section 11 provides penalties for violations, among which are a fine not exceeding the equivalent of six months’ salary or suspension not exceeding one year, or removal from office.
Pawid, 70, was appointed to the NCIP as Commissioner representing Region I and Cordillera Autonomous Region in November 2010. She was named NCIP chairman on June 7, 2011 replacing Atty. Roque Agton who remains as Commissioner for Southern Mindanao.
The certification was issued by Administrative Assistant Arnel Larbodis, SALN–In-Charge which issuance was subscribed and sworn to before Graft Investigation Officer Joseph Marion Navarette on request of certain Salvador Liked of Mountain Province.
The officials and employees said Pawid should resign immediately out of delicadeza saying she has lost all legal and moral authority to continue holding on to her position after the Ombudsman certified that she has violated the law on how officials should conduct themselves.
Earlier, Pawid told the NCIP commissioners during an en banc meeting that she was quitting as chairman and member of the commission. later, she said that she was only joking.
The employees criticize Pawid for reversing a resolution on the educational assistance program (EAP) that the Commission approved earlier. The financial assistance for Indigenous People under the EAP comes from the pork barrel of congressmen and not the NCIP.
Meanwhile, four NCIP bureau directors in a joint statement called on Pawid to treat the employees humanely and to deal with the mid-level officials professionally even as they denied any part in the poison pen letters condemning Pawid.
The directors who signed the joint statement are Dr. Carlos Buasen, Jr. of the Office of Socio-Economic Services and Special Concerns, Atty. Leilene Marie Gallardo of the Office of Empowerment and Human Rights, Dr. Marie Grace Pascua of the Office on Education, Culture and Health and, Mr. Masli Quilaman of the Office on Policy, Planning and Research.
Pawid who vowed to champion the cause of the indigenous people when named to chair the commission in June last year has been violating the terms and conditions of the collective negotiating agreement with the employees’ association, according to NCIP Employees Association President Dong Laquibol.
***
Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com

http://www.malaya.com.ph/index.php/opinion/13359-spirituality-catholicism-and-rh

Spirituality, Catholicism, and RH
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Published on Wednesday, 19 September 2012 00:00
Written by A.G. ROMUALDEZ
By A Web design Company

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‘Catholic teaching should reflect not only beliefs of the hierarchy but also those of the laity as expressed in practices especially with respect to real life situations.’
CATHOLICS for Reproductive Health (C4RH) was established more than a year ago by a group of practicing Catholics who in their personal capacities supported the legislative proposals on reproductive health and responsible parenthood.
It has allied itself with other mainly secular groups who together form the coalition of reproductive health advocates known as Alliance for Reproductive Health Network (ARHAN).
Still in its organizational early stages, C4RH has engaged in activities aimed at expressing Catholic lay support for the enactment of laws mandating government provision of reproductive health information and services particularly to economically disadvantaged segments of the Philippine population.
Presently, the formal membership of C4RH consists of the few hundred or so individuals who have participated in its two annual national meetings as well as individual chapter meetings in some provinces. However, the organization reaches thousands of Catholics of similar persuasions - including students and faculty of both public and private schools as evidenced by the attendance of over 900 participants at the recent assembly held at the UP College of Social Work and Development last Saturday.
The assembly, billed as the “C4RH Wo/Men’s Fare”, featured group prayers for passage of the RH Bill and a talk by RH co-author Miriam Defensor Santiago, who titled her talk “8 Reasons Why Catholics Support Reproductive Health” which is summarized and presented in abridged form below.
“Reason One - The Church does not consider anti-RH teaching as infallible.” Senator Santiago asserted that these teachings are not “Dogma” (i.e., infallible) but “Doctrine” (i.e., changeable over time). In support, she quoted a 1973 issuance of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that states, “The expressions of revelation are historically conditioned, and therefore the meaning is not always self-evident to those in some other historical setting. The meaning in dogmatic language may change from one historical period to another. The truth itself may be expressed incompletely”.
“Reason Two - The Catholic enjoys freedom of conscience.” The Senator said that even the Church recognizes the primacy of “individual conscience over mere doctrine”. She cited Pope Paul VI’s letter entitled “Dignitatis Humanae” sometimes referred to as the “Declaration of Religious Freedom”. The quoted passage goes: “Man perceives and acknowledges the imperatives of the divine law through the mediation of conscience. In all his activity, a man is bound to follow his conscience in order that he may come to God, the end and purpose of living. It follows that he is not to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his conscience.”
“Reason Three - RH observes the preferential option for the poor.” Here Dr. Santiago reiterated that the mission of the Church as a whole (inclusive of laity and all religious - not just the hierarchy) “includes service to those in need, and, parenthetically, service to the women of the poor. The mission of the Church is not limited to the preaching of the gospel or the celebration of the sacraments.” She also quoted liberation theology proponent Gustavo Gutierrez who said: Let me say only that we have here two aspects of the church’s life that are both demanding and inseparable: universality and preference for the poor.”
“Reason Four - RH is part of today’s sense of the faithful, also known as ‘sensus fidelium’.” Senator Santiago maintains that Catholic teaching should reflect not only beliefs of the hierarchy but also those of the laity as expressed in practices especially with respect to real life situations. Such an expression is shown by the fact that the vast majority of Catholics all over the world practice birth control using modern contraceptives whenever these are available and known to them.
“Reason Five - Surveys showing Catholic support for RH is ‘a sign of the times’.” All of the reputable opinion polls including the most recent ones reflect this. The results are the same no matter the kind of question asked or the class of the interviewed segment. As mentioned above this view is shared by the population of other predominantly Catholic countries where RH is accepted and practiced resulting in low population growth rates “between .02 and .05 %” while the Philippines, without an RH law, has a population growth rate of 2.01%”.
“Reason Six - Since God is Love, RH is proof of love for the poor and therefore is proof of Love for God.” To discern this truth, Senator Santiago recommends that “The Filipino Catholic religious should engage all members of the Church in dialogues. The Catholic Church does not consist of the priests and bishops alone. Instead, the Church consists of the whole faith community.”
“Reason Seven - Anti-RH is cruelty to the poor.” In the Philippines, it is the poor who suffer most from lack of access to reproductive health information and services. As the Senator puts it: “They are miserable, because among other reasons, they have so many children. Without reproductive knowledge and information, the poor are just condemned to a vicious cycle of poverty, from generation to generation.”
“Reason Eight - The RH bill is over ten years old; it is cowardly to keep postponing the decision.” Senator Miriam believes that those who would delay passage through a filibuster or other parliamentary tricks are afraid of the so-called Catholic vote. She concludes that “some of our legislators refuse to face the facts squarely” and that “perhaps they think that if they are anti-RH, they will automatically go to heaven.”
***
Email: alberto.romualdez@gmail.com
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/09/19/few-pinoys-back-bishops-on-rh-issue/

Few Pinoys back bishops on RH issue
By Christine F. Herrera | Posted on September 19, 2012 | 12:01am | 559 views

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Only 7 percent of Filipinos support the Catholic bishops in their position against the Reproductive Health bill and only 9 percent are heeding the bishops’ call to boycott the pro-RH candidates, according to Likhaan’s Junice Melgar, citing 2010 national surveys that are the latest on the subject.
In fact, Melgar said, a Social Weather Stations survey showed that 93 percent of Catholics wanted the RH bill and a Pulse Asia survey showed 60 percent would vote for the candidates who will support House Bill 4244, which seeks to establish a national policy on responsible parenthood, family planning and population development.
Melgar and Elizabeth Angsioco, national chairman of the Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines, are challenging the House and Senate leaderships to put the RH bill to a vote.
“The two national surveys for the past 10 years had been consistent in their findings that majority of Filipinos, mostly Catholics, were clamoring for the passage of the RH bill,” Angsioco said.
“The Filipino voters favor candidates with a family planning platform and approve the government’s use of public funds for family planning, including the purchase and distribution of non-abortive contraceptives.”
House Majority Leader Janette Garin of Iloilo, one of the principal authors of the RH bill, on Tuesday urged her colleagues and their counterparts in the Senate not to allow the bishops to put pressure on them.
“I have been in politics for many years and I am about to finish my term here in Congress, but my constituents continue to vote for me even if the Catholic church has demonized me and called me names. The same is true with my other co-authors,” Garin told the Manila Standard.

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