VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, [8], 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 19:30:49 07/30/12 Mon
Author: IMRD
Subject: July 31, 2012 news

http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/2276-minority-withdraws-rh-bill-support-as-cbcp-takes-protest-to-the-streets


Minority withdraws RH bill support as CBCP takes protest to the streets
• Written by Tribune
• Tuesday, 31 July 2012 00:00
• font size decrease font size increase font size
• Print
• 2 comments
Rate this item
•
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
(3 votes)
A week before the House of Representatives decides on the fate of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, members of the minority bloc in the lower chamber are withdrawing sponsorship from the controversial measure while the Catholic Church is calling on its followers to bring the campaign against a proposed birth control measure to the streets.
On Aug. 7, members of the House will vote on whether to terminate or extend the period of interpellation and debate on RH bill. Around eight lawmakers, led by Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, yesterday revealed that they are withdrawing their support for House Bill (HB) 4244 or the proposed “Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development,” after having felt being abandoned by their “spiritual leader,” former Minority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.
The decision was reached after a closed-door meeting of the minority bloc.
“The minority bloc is withdrawing its support for RH bill,” Suarez stressed.
He said members of the House opposition only supported the RH Bill as they were influenced largely by Lagman who then led the minority. “Obviously, some members of the minority bloc supported the RH bill because of Edcel Lagman, but now that he’s not part of the group, they are withdrawing their support,” Suarez added.
Lagman is a staunch advocate of the RH bill.
But according to sources, more lawmakers, more than half of the 110 sponsors of the bill will be withdrawing their support for HB 4244 before Aug. 7.
“More than half of the sponsors have already signified their intention to withdraw their sponsorship,” the source said.
Last week, during the opening of the third regular session of the 15th Congress, Belmonte the plenary will have to vote on Aug. 7 and decide, once and for all, whether the long-drawn plenary debate on the RH should be terminated or continue.
The Speaker explained that, “if the vote is in favor of terminating the debates then the period of amendments follow and put to a vote for passage on second reading. If the vote is against termination of the debates then it is back to plenary interpellation.”
“I think it is time that we finally put it to a vote. Let the chips fall where they may,” the House leader stressed in his opening speech Monday.
Under the usual legislative process, if the plenary decides to terminate the period of debate, the measure will then undergo the period of amendments to allow all members to propose changes or retain or refine the numerous provisions of the measure before it is voted on second reading.
But one of the main proponents of the bill, Iloilo Rep. Janet Garin, remained unperturbed by the reported mass withdrawal of support for the RH Bill.
“Not until I hear them personally withdrawing their support,” Garin stressed.
The Iloilo lawmaker said she remains confident the bill would be approved by Congress as no less than President Aquino is personally pushing the measure having mentioned it in passing during his last State of the Nation Address.
But the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) maintained that “suppressing birth” will not solve poverty as it brings its campaign against RH bill to the historical Edsa Shrine in Mandaluyong City.
Thousands of Catholics are expected to participate in the “prayer rally” on August 4 to demonstrate their strong opposition against the reproductive health (RH) bill which seeks to control the country’s growing population, the CBCP, in a statement, posted on its Web site said.
CBCP head and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma called on the lay faithful to attend the prayer rally and defend the sanctity of the family and life “because, more than anybody else, you are the target of the RH bill.”
“This will be a demonstration of our sentiments and our advocacy for life,” Palma stressed. “Let us show that we believe in is for the common good.”
The prayer rally will also be held simultaneously in other dioceses across the country.
Palma stressed the country’s “positive” birth rate and population composed mostly of young people are the main players that boost the economy.
“The countries labor population is a big push for our economy,” the CBCP head said. “It is therefore quite disturbing when the country is told that having too many children is a burden to the national budget,” Palma noted.
“The population control policy of the RH bill would only stall our economic growth. The problem of countries with former robust economies is the lack of young workers for their industries and inadequate support for their aging population,” he said.
The President has earlier said population control is the answer to the backlogs in education, particularly in classrooms, chairs and textbooks of students.
But Palma said it is unacceptable if the Aquino administration would rely on the “wrong” measure to solve the problem instead of finding the real solution.
“There is a grave reason to worry when the government would rather suppress the population through RH bill instead of confronting the real causes of poverty,” he stressed.
Palma also scored claims by RH bill proponents that the measure is not to control the population but to address maternal health issues. By Charlie V. Manalo and Pat C. Santos


http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=833063&publicationSubCategoryId=63

House to decide on RH bill next week
By Carina Roncesvalles (The Philippine Star) Updated July 31, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (6)




HONG KONG – The House of Representatives will determine the fate of the proposed Reproductive Health bill next week. Deputy House Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III said legislators would decide whether to continue debates on the proposed RH bill or proceed with amendments.
“We would ask that the Reproductive Health bill be voted on the issue whether to continue still with the debates and interpolation or to terminate. That would be a signal. If we vote to terminate, that means the process proceeds to period of amendments and eventually hopefully a final vote on the bill. That will happen on Aug. 7,” Tañada said in an interview after speaking before the Confederation of Ilocano Associations here last Sunday.
Aside from the Responsible Parenthood bill, President Aquino identified the amendments to the mining law and the anti-money laundering act (AMLA), and the “sin tax” reform bill as priority measures in his third State of the Nation Address last July 23.
The House has approved its version of the Sin Tax bill, which would raise taxes on tobacco and alcohol products to generate additional revenues for the government.
“I am sure we’ll work on the AMLA that would pass without any problems,” Tañada said.
The deputy speaker said Congress would also work on the proposed measure that would allow bigger government share in mining activities.
“But it will be very tight. I am in favor of that. It is at the committee level. If that bill passes the committee level even by the first week of August, maybe there will be time to even pass that,” Tañada said.
“So these are bills that I don’t think that there’ll be that much of a debate. And outside of that, I think it will be left to both chambers of Congress to push their own bills which they feel are priority on their part,” he added.
Next month, the House would start working on the proposed P2.006-trillion national government 2013 expenditure program.
“When the first week of September comes, all pending legislative measures will be put (on) hold. We start discussing the budget. We will try as much as possible to pass on second or third reading all that is pending in plenary at this point. So we will see,” Tañada said.
Prayer rallies
Various dioceses and archdioceses of the Catholic Church would be holding prayer rallies three days before congressmen are set to cast their vote on the RH bill, to offer prayers and demonstrate their opposition to the passage of the proposed legislative measure.
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma told Radio Veritas yesterday that the different dioceses and archdioceses would be holding prayer rallies in their respective areas.
In Metro Manila, the prayer rally would be done at the EDSA Shrine, also known as the Mary Queen of Peace Shrine.
“This is to demonstrate our sentiment on our advocacy for life,” said Palma, who asked the legislators to vote according to their conscience.
A recent survey showed that the Philippines had the most believers in God. Pope Benedict XVI has chosen the Philippines as the next venue for the International Eucharistic Congress.
In the CBCP statement, Palma reiterated the Catholic Church’s belief that every birth is a gift from God. “Our country’s positive birth rate and a population composed of mostly young people are the main players that fuel the economy. Even our Constitution acknowledges that human resource is a primary source of social and economic force,” he said.
Palma pointed out that even the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas cited the big contribution of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in boosting the economy.
“It is therefore quite disturbing when the country is told that having too many children is a burden to the national budget,” he said.
The CBCP president believes that the population control policy through the RH bill would hinder the country’s economic growth.
He added that some countries are experiencing a slow economy because they lack young workers and have inadequate support for their aging population. “There is a grave reason to worry when the government would rather suppress the population through RH bill instead of confronting the real causes of poverty,” he said.
Fr. Melvin Castro, CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL) executive secretary, said that the prayer rally slated on Aug. 4 would be called “Prayer Power Against the RH Bill” and would be held from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.