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Date Posted: 00:20:07 08/01/12 Wed
Author: IMRD
Subject: August 1, 2012 news

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/240375/showdown-on-rh-bill-up

Showdown on RH bill up
CBCP: 140 congressmen back Church stand
By Kristine L. Alave, Leila B. Salaverria, Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer
12:06 am | Wednesday, August 1st, 2012
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Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma. FILE PHOTO
The name of the game is numbers and the bishops are confident they have it wrapped up.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said the reproductive health (RH) bill will not pass the House of Representatives when it takes a vote on the measure on August 7.

CBCP president Jose Palma on Tuesday said the bishops expected victory in their fight against the RH bill, counting 140 congressmen opposing the measure and only 49 favoring it.

Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes said the CBCP leadership recently asked its members to talk to their district representatives about their position on the bill, which seeks universal reproductive health care in the Philippines.

The results of the survey and discussions in the country’s 85 dioceses showed that lawmakers were against the bill, Reyes said.

Of the 85 dioceses, “77 answered,” Reyes said. “In these 77 dioceses, there are 215 congressmen.”

“Of the 215 congressmen surveyed by the bishops themselves, only 49 will vote yes to the RH bill, 140 will vote no to the RH bill and 26 are undecided. We are happy about that and we hope that they will not change their minds,” he added.

There are 285 district and party-list representatives in the House. For a bill to be passed, it needs a majority vote from the lawmakers.

On Monday, Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said eight lawmakers, who are coauthors of the bill, would withdraw their support for the measure. Suarez declined to identify the legislators.

The House leadership has organized a “text brigade” to get its membership to show up for the vote that will decide once and for all whether or not to terminate the debates on the bill.

Should the discussions be concluded, the House would move to amendments and then to another vote on whether to pass the measure on second reading.

Quorum critical

“This is not yet an approval, mind you,” said Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.

“This is a step forward. It will give us at least the time to consider the bill up to the third reading,” he told reporters.

He said enough members would show up on August 7 so that there would be a quorum.

If there is no quorum, this would mean that the bill has no support, said Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II.

Senior Deputy Majority Leader Janette Garin shrugged off the bishops’ claim the bill would be rejected.

Garin said it was difficult to speak of exact numbers until an actual vote is made, so it would be better to wait for that.


http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/news/national/35214-text-brigade-used-for-rh-cause

Text brigade used for RH cause
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•
Published : Wednesday, August 01, 2012 00:00
Article Views : 18
Written by : Jester P. Manalastas

SPEAKER Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is prodding members of the House of Representatives to attend sessions and determine the fate of the contentious Reproductive Health bill.

Belmonte Jr. is texting all the members to ensure quorum, especially next week when the House votes on the termination of the period of interpellation.

“Nag-text brigade na si Speaker, aside from we need a quorum, we also want to inform each and every member of what will happen on August 7.” Gonzales told reporters in weekly Ugnayan sa Batasan media forum.

According to Gonzales, the House will devote its time discussing the controversial RH bill after President Benigno Aquino III expressed his support for the bill in his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Like Aquino, Belmonte and Gonzales are pro-RH.

Gonzales added that it is important for the Lower House to determine if the RH bill is acceptable to the majority of the lawmakers.

“If walang forum on August 7, malaking problem yan ibig sabihin mawawalan ng suporta, pero kung meron namang quorum malaki ang chance na baka maipasa ito,” Gonzales added.

On Monday, the House resumed its period of interpellation which was stalled since last year. More than 20 lawmakers are still on the list of interpellators.

Gonzales admitted that both the pro and anti-RH solons have a number of supporters.

On August 7, if lawmakers agree to terminate the period of interpellation then the House will proceed to the second and third reading. However, if the majority will not agree to terminate the debate, then the discussion will continue.

If that happens the chances of approving the RH bill will get slimmer especially since Congress will adjourn earlier next year due to the 2013 elections.

Earlier, Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said that eight opposition lawmakers had withdrawn their support for the RH bill.

Meanwhile, Gonzales said that the House will not force members, especially those from the Liberal Party (LP), to vote in favor of the termination of debate but according to their beliefs and conscience.



http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/368047/palace-unfazed-by-minority-withdrawal-of-support-for-rh-bill

Palace Unfazed By Minority Withdrawal Of Support For RH Bill
By GENALYN D. KABILING
July 31, 2012, 6:13pm
Malacañang is not worried by the withdrawal of support by some minority congressmen for the responsible parenthood bill.
Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte remained confident that the administration's priority measure on responsible parenthood will get the nod of Congress, citing that the House Bill 4244 is a consolidation of measures filed by some congressmen.
Valte added that the lawmakers who withdrew support for the measure would have to explain their decision to their “pro-RH (reproductive health) constituents.”
House Minority Leader Rep. Danilo Suarez earlier announced that eight minority congressmen have withdrawn support for the controversial reproductive health bill. The move comes ahead of a crucial August 7 House vote on whether or not to terminate the period of deliberations.
“Allow us to stress that the current version, if you compare with those six bills filed by Congressman Edcel Lagman, Congresswoman (Janette) Garin, Congresswoman (Arlene) Bag-ao, it cannot be called a Palace version,” Valte said.
“If you compare them, you will notice the similarities and also the points that were put in to reflect the five-point position of the President on responsible parenthood,” she added.
On the planned street protests to be led by Catholic bishops, Valte appealed anew to keep the demonstrations peaceful. She said the policemen will be deployed in the area to keep peace and order.
“We will be coordinating with the PNP in that area to make sure that the police will be there for the usual safety, crowd control in this kind of movement,” she said.
At least 140 lawmakers are expected to vote against the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, according to a survey of congressmen conducted by priests.
According to Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (CBCP-ECFL), bishops in various dioceses were asked to call up congressmen to ask them about the RH bill just before the President’s state of the nation address.
After the reports from the dioceses were collated, Reyes said: “Out of the 85 dioceses in the Philippines, 77 (bishops) answered. In this 77 dioceses, 215 congressmen were surveyed by the bishops themselves and out of that number, 49 will vote yes to the RH bill, 140 will vote no, and 26 are undecided.”
“We are very happy about that. We just hope they (anti-RH lawmakers) won’t change their stand,” he said.
CBCP President Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said they expect more congressmen to vote against the RH bill.
“We expect something like that with the passing of time. Initially, with the passing of time and with more and more sharing, discussions or fora and with reports coming from many places in the world---but we have a broader perspective of what’s happening all over the world and therefore it also becomes a basis for their assessment and decision,” he said. (Genalyn Kabiling and Leslie Ann Aquino)

http://www.malaya.com.ph/index.php/opinion/9743-day-of-reckoning-at-the-batasan


Day of reckoning at the Batasan
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Details
Published on Wednesday, 01 August 2012 00:00
Written by ALBERTO G. ROMUALDEZ
By A Web design Company

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‘In both chambers of the Philippine Congress, anti-RH forces have staked out last ditch stands to continue their delaying tactics.’
IF all goes well, August 7, 2012 will be a historic date. On that date the House of Representatives, having exhausted all arguments in favor of and against HB 4244, titled the Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population Development Bill (aka the RH Bill), is expected to vote on whether to terminate the period of interpellation and move on to the next legislative phase or the period of amendments. Should a majority of congressmen support the motion there is good chance that, after almost a decade and a half of often pointless debate, the Philippines will finally have a legislated policy to support its peoples’ aspirations for healthy families.
That a law so obviously beneficial to the poor majority of Filipinos and so decisively supported in all opinion polls has taken more than a decade to be approved is one of the strange quirks of the Philippine political system – a legacy of four and a half centuries of colonial rule. This state of affairs may be credited to the strong influence of a Catholic hierarchy and its wealthy elitist supporters - long used to having almost total control over the lives of the poverty-stricken masses of Filipinos.
For this reason, reproductive health advocates are still worried that, even this close to reaching the envisioned health policy milestone, the obstinate opposition may still obstruct its smooth passage – including negating its effectiveness in implementation through “killer amendments”. The fact is that, in both chambers of the Philippine Congress, anti-RH forces have staked out last ditch stands to continue their delaying tactics.
Perhaps at this time, it is useful to remind our Senators and Congressmen about the dire consequences of the absence of a legislated reproductive health policy. Since the year 2001, an administration closely allied to Catholic conservatives succeeded in dismantling three decades of work in building up government’s capability to support the delivery of family planning services - by undermining the Philippine Commission on Population, by emasculating the Department of Health’s family planning program, by delaying implementation of RH educational programs, and by weakening the control programs directed at sexually transmitted diseases (STD) including HIV/AIDS.
The direct results of this policy of malignant neglect were seen in the recently released results of the 2011 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) and STD surveillance reports.
Maternal mortality rose steeply form 160 to a high 220 per 100,000 live births (a figure that is at par with those of least developed countries) - meaning15 Filipinas dying of childbirth-related causes every day. These deaths, occurring mainly among the poor and those who live in geographically isolated areas, reflected an inability to prevent unwanted and mistimed pregnancies.
The neglected state of sex education is reflected by the rise in teenage pregnancies from 14 to 19 percent. These high-risk pregnancies have also contributed to the higher number of maternal deaths.
As well, government’s inability to enable poor women to avoid unwanted and mistimed pregnancies was a major factor in the rise of illegal and unsafe abortions to over half a million cases each year which in turn contributed to increased maternal morbidity and mortality.
In addition, recently released surveillance figures show that HIV positive cases have risen sharply during the last four years – indicating that the country may soon graduate from its current HIV epidemic status of low and slow prevalence and incidence of the disease.
Worth noting is the fact that all these undesirable developments coincided with the completion in the year 2006 of the anticipated phase-out of donations of family planning supplies and commodities by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Condoms, by the way, conceded by even the Vatican as an AIDS prevention measure, were among these phased out donations.
Considering these adverse health effects of neglectful RH policy, the assertion that the RH proposals are intended for “population control under the guise of a health measure” is indeed rather puzzling.
Nowhere in the Philippines have poverty-stricken women suffered more from such a policy than in the City of Manila. As a result of such official policy, family health providers employed by the city were deprived of scientific updates and training on family planning services for almost fourteen years.
Last Monday, a big step was taken to remedy this unfortunate situation with the conduct of a five-day Family Planning Competency Based Training Course. It is hoped that the course will restore what used to be a model urban family planning service that had been dismantled by the issuance of the infamous Executive Order by a decidedly anti-poor City Mayor.
Recently, RH proponents have been alarmed by rumors that the same politician is seeking a congressional seat in next year’s elections.


http://manilastandardtoday.com/www2/2012/08/01/church-pressure-splits-opposition-over-rh-bill/

Church pressure splits opposition over RH bill
By Maricel Cruz | Posted on August 01, 2012 | 12:11am | 3 Comments

The supporters of the Reproductive Health bill on Tuesday accused the six congressmen who withdraw their support of the measure of succumbing to political and Church pressure, but vowed to push hard for the bill’s passage.
The move of the six lawmakers showed a divided opposition in the House but pleased the Catholic Church, which is violently opposed to the RH bill because, it says, it is a population-control measure.
The bill is also expected to have a rough sailing in the Senate as two senators—Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III—are also against it.
As a result of the new developments on the bill, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he had launched a text brigade to encourage the 284 lawmakers to attend sessions regularly to ensure a quorum in order to speed up the passage of the priority bills including the RH bill.
He said the text brigade could be an effective way of ensuring a quorum particularly during the crucial voting on the RH bill on Aug. 7.
“I am confident that there will be a quorum,” Belmonte told reporters.
House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales said Belmonte started the text brigade Tuesday morning.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Emmi de Jesus slammed President Benigno Aquino III’s call for responsible parenthood in his State-of-the-Nation Address espousing a framework for population control.
“We at Gabriela opt for the exclusion of population control provisions in the Reproductive Health Bill,” she said.
Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, on Tuesday praised House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, Siquijor Rep. Orlando Fua, Lanao Del Sur Rep. Mohammed Huessein Pangandaman, AA Kasosyo Party-list Rep. Nasser Pangandaman, Camarines Norte Rep. Elmer Panotes, and ALE Rep. Catalina Bagasina for their decision.
“I am happy for that expression of change of heart,” he said. He called on the other bishops to organize rallies in their respective dioceses to coincide with the prayer rally at the Edsa Shrine on Aug. 4.
Still, the advocates of the RH bill said they had high hopes that an overwhelming number of votes would be cast in its favor.
A Catholic group, the Manila Catholic Layman’s Association, minimized the impact of the six lawmakers’ withdrawal of support for the bill and said the government was bent on pushing it.
Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan, an RH advocate, agreed.
“The six minority congressmen who withdrew their support of the measure will be replaced by others from the majority,” said Ilagan, vice chairman of the House committee on women.
“Besides, the six will not change the edge of the RH advocates,” she said.
Ilagan agreed that the six withdrew their support of the bill as a result of pressure.
“I don’t think it is only Church pressure. There could have been political pressure, too,” she said.
Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said he was saddened by the decision of the six lawmakers.
“It’s sad that they withdrew,” he told the Manila Standard.
“Our nation’s mothers, children and long-term future need a national reproductive health policy.”
Malacañang on Tuesday called on the CBCP to ensure that Saturday’s prayer rally against the RH bill would be exactly that: a peaceful prayer rally.
“Our only appeal for any movements of this nature or any movements of any nature, for that matter, is for it to be peaceful,” deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said.
“We will be coordinating with the Philippine National Police in that area for the usual safety measures and crowd control,” she said.
CBCP president Jose Palma had called for a show of force at the Edsa Shrine three days before the House of Representatives was to vote on the controversial measure.
Earlier, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda denied that the government was waging an open war on the Catholic Church in pushing for the RH bill.
“The bishops were fully aware of the advocacy of the President even during the campaign about Responsible Parenthood,” he said.
“They have been fully aware of the position we have taken and we have actually cooperated, we have actually taken into consideration some of the concerns that they raised.” With Joyce Pangco Pañares and Rio N. Araja


http://manilastandardtoday.com/www2/2012/08/01/no-more-rh-delays/


No more RH delays
By Manila Standard Today | Posted on August 01, 2012 | 12:01am | 2 Comments

If our senators and congressmen truly see themselves as servants of the people, they must end all debates on the long overdue reproductive health bill forthwith and vote to pass or reject it.
In the current Congress alone, the bill has been debated extensively for more than a year, both inside and outside the legislative halls. But the real debate has been going on for much longer.
Since 1998, when the first version of the reproductive health bill was filed, the issue has been vigorously debated. Yet all efforts to even bring the measure to a vote in Congress have failed, derailed by a Catholic Church-backed opposition that has favored dogma, rhetoric and ignorance over science, logic and education. Thus far, these forces have used fear, veiled threats and delays to stifle any suggestion of population management. They will seek to do it again.
Is it possible that we have been unable to examine this issue from all possible angles after more than a decade of discussion and debate? The reasonable answer that presumes some modicum of intelligence on all our parts is “no.” Given the years of discussion in Congress, in church and town halls, on radio and TV talk shows, and on countless pages of newspapers and magazines, we must agree with Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago and Pia Cayetano, who say that the time is ripe to put the bill to a vote.
But Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile disagrees, and raises the possibility that debates may be revived in the Senate yet again, ostensibly to take into consideration his latest reasons for opposing the bill. He dismisses their suggestions for an immediate vote and even mocks them, saying: “It’s ripe for them but not for us. I don’t know what they mean by ripe. It is not a banana, a mango or a durian.”
Senator Enrile’s latest objection to the reproductive health bill is based on the phenomenon seen in some industrialized countries where a shrinking population of young workers must pay for the care and upkeep of a larger, aging population. This, he warns, could strain or even bankrupt the national pension system.
Why the senator had not brought this up before is anybody’s guess—but now he has put the idea out there, along with thousands of others that have already been digested by his colleagues and the public at large. There is no need to further delay a vote simply to debate that point.
Besides, one might argue that a graying population is one of those “good problems to have,” in view of the current situation in which millions go hungry every day because we simply cannot sustain our birth rate, or the millions who will grow up stupid and dull, simply because their parents cannot afford to give them the proper nutrition and education they deserve.
But Mr. Enrile already knows this.
“Who will become policemen, soldiers, workers, laborers? Who will plant [rice] for the public to eat?” he says. It is gratifying to see that Mr. Enrile, in his advanced age, has his priorities straight.

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