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: 02:12:03 06/15/12 Fri
Author: IMRD
Subject: June 12-13, 2012

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=63&articleId=816375

Cayetano, Santiago expect Senate to vote on RH bill this year
By Marvin Sy (The Philippine Star) Updated June 12, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (3)



MANILA, Philippines - The two main proponents of the reproductive health (RH) bill, Senators Pia Cayetano and Miriam Defensor-Santiago, believe that a vote on the measure could be taken by August this year now that interpellations on the bill have concluded in the Senate.
However, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, one of the most vocal critics of the bill, cautioned the two senators against hoping for a speedy passage of the bill.
He said that the closing of the period of interpellation does not mean the bill would breeze through plenary sessions like what they have been saying.
Santiago had expressed confidence that the bill has a greater chance of being approved by the Senate now that the impeachment trial of former chief justice Renato Corona is over because her colleagues would be in a conciliatory mood.
She said that the bulk of arguments for or against the bill have already been exhausted, so getting the bill ready for voting should not take much longer.
Cayetano said that the closing of the period of interpellation is a big deal to her, considering that she spent more than a year defending the measure before nine of her colleagues.
“Some of them took the floor three times, four times, many at least twice, explaining. And though I am a very patient person, I’ve had to explain many times the same things over and over again, which I did so that people would understand the issues,” she said.
However, she said that “at some point, we have to move on.”
“Just like in the impeachment, remember how they said we have to see this impeachment through, people need to see that the Senate makes a decision. I feel the same way about RH, let’s take it to a vote,” she added.
Cayetano said that the bill would now undergo the period of amendments after which it would be closed on second reading.
However, Sotto said that the two RH proponents should not be too confident about the fate of their pet bill because a lot could still happen between now and the period of amendments.
He said the critics of the bill would still have their turn to air their position on the measure to try and convince their colleagues to cast a negative vote.
He said that he still has some cards up his sleeve and would reveal more of his information against the RH bill at the proper time.
Sotto has opposed the bill for various reasons, including the alleged involvement of pro-abortion organizations and contraceptive manufacturers, whom he said are backing its passage.


http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/210665/don%E2%80%99t-count-on-speedy-passage-of-rh-bill-warns-sotto

Don’t count on speedy passage of RH bill, warns Sotto
By Cathy Yamsuan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
2:27 am | Tuesday, June 12th, 2012
Tweet

Majority Floor Leader Senator Vicente Sotto III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Proponents of the highly divisive reproductive health (RH) bill had better rethink their schedule if they want the measure approved by August.
Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III expressed doubts the chamber would meet their target date to pass the bill, especially since he and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile were not fully convinced of the validity and morality of the bill.
Sotto and Enrile are the most vocal critics of the RH bill in the Senate.
Sotto maintains the measure’s proponents have not been convincing in their argument that contraceptives are not immoral and that their use is not a component of a global-based program intended to control the population of developing countries.
The Senate ended the period of interpellation or debate on the RH bill just before Congress adjourned last week.
Pro-RH bill advocates welcomed this development, noting that it was a signal that the issues surrounding the bill had been settled.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, cosponsor of the RH bill, expressed confidence the measure would be approved by August, with the conciliatory mood now prevailing in the Senate in the aftermath of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Santiago said the senators had had their fill of arguments after the contentious trial.
Senator Pia Cayetano, the bill’s main sponsor, noted that Enrile had begged off from asking more questions, which led to the closing of the period of interpellation after Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, the last to seek clarifications on the measure, finished his interrogation.
Sotto, however, did not agree.
The majority leader, whose main function is to lay down the issues to be tackled in sessions, said he still planned to deliver a “turno en contra” (opposition’s turn) speech against the RH bill in August.
This means that approving the measure then would be “impossible,” he said in a text message.
Under the rules, once the period of interpellation is over, a bill being discussed on the floor is subjected to a period of amendments.
This means all proposed changes in the wordings and the inclusion of new provisions would be presented on the floor and scrutinized.
A “turno en contra” speech would likely delay, if not derail, a measure.
Sotto said it was more likely the Senate would approve the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill before the RH bill as 22 senators had signed the measure expressing their support for the FOI measure’s speedy approval.


http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=816713&publicationSubCategoryId=63

Advocates push passage of RH bill
By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star) Updated June 13, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (0)



MANILA, Philippines - Advocates of the controversial Reproductive Health bill renewed calls yesterday for Congress to pass the measure, which has been pending in the legislature for more than 11 years.
Romeo Dongeto, executive director of the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc. (PLCPD), urged the leadership of the House of Representatives to follow the lead of the Senate and end the period of debates and vote on the RH bill.
“There is still enough time if they really want to vote on the measure. It has been pending for more than 11 years already and it has been subjected to political blackmails,” Dongeto said in a statement.
“It is about time that we institutionalize comprehensive RH education and services that will help end the deaths of 11 mothers every day due to pregnancy and pregnancy-related complications,” he said.
In the Senate, after almost a year, the bill finally passed the period of interpellation and is now on the period of amendments.
At the House of Representatives, however, the RH bill is still being debated on the floor.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has committed to tackle the RH bill when Congress resumes session in July.
The RH bill promotes sex education and allows for both natural and artificial means of family planning, among others.
The measure is strongly opposed by the Catholic Church and other pro-life groups.

Source of Philippine Daily News

http://www.journal.com.ph/
http://www.inquirer.net
http://www.mb.com.ph
http://www.tempo.com.ph
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/
http://www.tribune.net.ph/
http://www.bworldonline.com/
http://www.manilatimes.net
http://www.malaya.com.ph/
http://www.philstar.com
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/

[ 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.