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Date Posted: 18:34:00 07/26/12 Thu
Author: IMRD
Subject: July 27, 2012 news


http://manilastandardtoday.com/www2/2012/07/27/house-sets-crucial-vote-on-rh-bill/

House sets crucial vote on RH bill
By Maricel Cruz | Posted on July 27, 2012 | 12:06am | 0 Comments

The House of Representatives will take a crucial vote on Monday to decide on the fate of the highly divisive Reproductive Health or family planning bill, an official said Thursday.
House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, chairman of the House committee on rules, said President Benigno Aquino III’s signal to have the measure acted on during his State-of-the-Nation Address on July 23 had pushed the House leadership to be decisive on the fate of the RH bill, which has been pending since 2010.
“To determine the direction of the RH measure, the leadership decided to take a vote on Monday whether to terminate the period of debates,” Gonzales told reporters.
He said the House needed to act on the measure with dispatch so it could attend to other priority bills, but the Catholic Church on Thursday vowed to continue opposing the bill.
Retired Lingayen Archbishop Emeritus Oscar V. Cruz said that if the President could express his desire for the RH bill, then anyone else could say otherwise.
“I think the President doesn’t know what responsible parenthood is,” he said.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said Mr. Aquino’s statement on responsible parenthood did not amount to an endorsement of the RH bill. There was no pressure to pass the bill, he said, adding that the President knew that all legislation was open to debate.
“He knows it,” Enrile said.
“He came from the House, he came from the Senate. He knows that.”
But Senator Pia Cayetano, the principal author of the bill, on Thursday vowed to pressure her colleagues to vote to pass the bill even if Enrile and Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III did not believe in it.
“They really don’t like the RH bill,” she said. “They will do whatever they are capable of doing just to block its passage.”
Senator Panfilo Lacson agreed, saying Enrile and Sotto’s opposition was hampering the passage of the bill.
Senate Minority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano refused to make any statement about the bill, while Senator Jinggoy Estrada said he was amenable to passing the bill but it should be thoroughly studied first.
The House had failed to pass the proposed measure on second reading. The Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development, and For Other Purposes, was filed by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, an independent, in 2010.
|The proponents of the measure believe that the RH bill is one of the most feasible ways to arrest the country’s growing population. The United Nations estimates the world’s population at seven billion, and the Philippines as the 12th most populous country.
Gonzales said he was hopeful that the House would be able to muster a quorum to pass the RH bill.
“If there is no quorum, that’s an indication that there’s no support,” Gonzales said.
Earlier, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the RH bill would be given due importance during the coming session days.
“There’s hope for the passage of RH bill in the House,” he said.
Gabriela Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan, a strong supporter of the bill, said 145 congressmen were supporting the RH bill as of May this year. The House has 284 members.
“We will know the exact number by next week, and we are updating this,” Ilagan told the Manila Standard.
Deputy Speaker and Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia and Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay, who are against the bill, said those supporting the bill misinterpreted President Aquino’s mention of the phrase responsible parenthood during his address, saying it did not refer to the RH bill. With Macon Ramos-Araneta and Vito Barcelo

http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/news/top-stories/34866-aug-7-or-bust-for-rh

Aug 7 or bust for RH
•
•
Published : Friday, July 27, 2012 00:00
Article Views : 50

IT’S August 7 or never for the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill.

House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said that the House of Representatives will take a crucial vote on August 7 on what should be done with the RH bill which until now is pending interpellation.

Lawmakers decided to determine the fate of the controversial bill after President Benigno Aquino in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) mentioned the need to pass the bill to solve the population problem.

“We agreed that next week we will take up RH. We already set August 7 to take it up and at which time a motion to terminate the debate will be made,” Gonzales said in an interview.

According to Gonzales they have to rush things including the RH because by September the plenary will be preoccupied with budget deliberation.

At the end of September when Congress passes the 2013 national budget, the legislature again will go on a break to allow the reelectionists to prepare for the filing of their certificates of candidacy set from October 1 to 5.

If the lawmakers, especially the anti-RH solons, agree to terminate the period of interpellation, then they will proceed to the period of amendments.

Gonzales admitted that after the budget approval, Congress will be faced with the problem of lack of quorum.

Just like Speaker Belmonte, Gonzales wants voting on RH to determine who really are for or against the bill.

“To determine the direction of RH measure, the leadership decided to take a vote on August seven whether to terminate the period of debates,” Gonzales said.

He underscored the importance of determining the fate of the RH bill with dispatch, saying the legislative process in Congress may end by December as elections are just around the corner.

However, Gonzales admitted that the chances of the RH measure in the House of Representatives are getting slimmer due to lack of material time.

The United Nations placed the global population at seven billion with the Philippines cited as the 12th most populous country in the world. Jester P. Manalastas

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