Aquino endorses RH bill with amendments
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
MANILA — President Benigno Aquino III endorsed the Reproductive Health (RH) bill by including it in the administration’s 13 additional priority measures during the second Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) meeting Tuesday.
President Aquino said several amendments were made to the RH bill to make it acceptable to all sectors, including the Catholic Church, which has been opposing the measure due to the promotion of the use of artificial contraception methods.
“We have tried to remove certain issues that can be contentious,” he said.
Among the provisions deleted from the proposed bill are the fixing of the ideal number of children to only two and changing the appropriate age for teaching sex education to children at 11 years old, or when the child is in grade six or in high school.
“We think 11 is a good compromise that will meet the requirements of the people from the Church, and also those who are saying that at nine or 10 years old, there are some already that are at risk of having unwanted pregnancies, so the need to educate them,” he explained.
Other provisions of what Malacanang calls the Responsible Parenthood (RP) bill that will be amended include giving parents the option to hold sex education by themselves, and giving church-based hospitals the right to distribute artificial or natural family planning methods within their jurisdiction.
“There were not less than 10 that we proposed as amendments…It will go through the process, plenary hall debates, but we’re in agreement that it can be fine-tuned and include the proposed measures,” said Aquino.
The Catholic Church only favors natural methods of family planning and has consistently opposed artificial contraception, which the RH bill pending in Congress allows.
Asked if the government will allow free contraceptives distribution, Aquino said this needs certain requirement in the law.
President Aquino earlier ordered his Cabinet to draft an RP bill based on the reproductive health bills filed in Congress and the suggestions they would gather from the religious sector.
The administration had several dialogues with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) but the latter eventually withdrew.
The government then decided to abort the measure and find an RH bill pending in Congress that is consistent with the five-point statement of the President.
Praises, disappointment
Several lawmakers lauded Aquino for including the RH bill in the list of his priority measures.
Iloilo Representative Janette Garin, one of the main authors of the measure, said he salutes the President’s courage and political will to endorse the bill.
“The endorsement of the President is an upright decision and in accordance with his vision of ‘matuwid na daan’. Political will as exemplified by our nation’s leader is the missing link we have been longing for a faster and more progressive take-off from poverty,” Garin said.
Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (Cibac) party-list Representative Sherwin Tugna said the prioritization of the RH bill is a “great development”, which only shows that the Aquino administration has political will to promote a measure despite pressures from other organizations like the Catholic Church.
Gabriela party-list Representative Luzviminda Ilagan, for her part, said that with 11 women dying daily due to childbirth complications, Aquino made a right move to declare the measure as a priority.
The CBCP, however, expressed disappointment over the inclusion of the measure to the Ledac.
“Personally, I am saddened upon learning that RH bill is one of the priorities submitted in Congress,” Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, CBCP president, said in a statement.
He hoped for the support of pro-life lawmakers and do not allow the passage of the measure.
“I trust our congressmen especially our congressmen from Cebu, they will be there to defend our stand for life, for God and of course for the sanctity of marriage,” Palma said.
Cebu Representative Tomas Osmeña said Tuesday that voting on the controversial measure won’t likely be reached by members of the House of Representatives.
“I like RH but there won’t be any voting. (There are) 35 oppositionists (and they) are willing to filibuster until the second coming of Christ,” he said in a text message.
Archbishop Palma said they are facing a long battle as far as the controversial bill is concerned.
Other priority measures
Also included in the Aquino administration’s priority measures Tuesday are the adequate protection for house help, expansion of science and technology scholarship programs, amendments to the Rural Electrification Law, sin tax, amendments to the Human Security Act and the Data Privacy Act, expanded consumer protection, reorganization of the Philippine statistical system, amendments to the PTV-4 law, provision for the delineation of the specific forest limits of public domain, stiffer penalties for stealing and tampering with government risk reduction and preparedness equipment, and amendments to the Lina Law or the Urban Development Housing Act of 1992.
Aquino said the government could earn some P60 billion annually if the sin tax bill is passed into law.
He said the increase in value of taxes on tobacco and alcohol products under the current sin tax law is still based on the 1996 prices of cigarettes and liquor.
By restructuring the excise tax, he said revenues are expected to double and part of it will be earmarked for the promotion of universal healthcare.
President Aquino said he expects “expeditious” passage of the bills he submitted to the Ledac.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, meanwhile, declined to promise for the “smooth sailing” passage of Aquino’s priority measures, particularly the RP bill.
“With regards to the RP bill, I cannot assure that we passed the version. It will take a full-blown debate in the Senate. But with regards to the proposals of the President we will have to look at them very closely,” Enrile said.
House Speaker Sonny Belmonte said the Congress will give “the same attention” to the new sets of bills regarded as priority by the President.
The President also explained the non-inclusion of the Freedom of Information (FOI) in the priority list, saying further study is needed to be done.
Aquino formed a technical working group headed by Undersecretary Manolo Quezon III to discuss the measure with both chambers of Congress, various non-government organization and other stakeholders.
He, meanwhile, pointed out that even without the FOI, his administration shows its commitment to transparency, citing procurement law where all transactions of government is available to all.
Also in the meeting, the administration presented to congressional leaders the proposed P1.816 trillion spending package for 2012, as well as the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) to rally their support for the timely passage of the budget measure.
“We look forward once again to the early passage of the budget so that the government can build on the progress that has already been made,” Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa said.
He thanked the leadership of both chambers of Congress “for their statesmanship and for the cooperation they have extended in forwarding our common legislative agenda. We also want to obtain their input on the other measures we will be proposing during the second Ledac because pushing this agenda should be a collective, collaborative effort.”
According to Ochoa, the Executive Department will also make a pitch for the passage of the priority measures previously submitted to Ledac.
Of the 22 measures earlier proposed, three have been enacted into law, namely: the GOCC Governance Act of 2011 (Republic Act 10149), Rationalizing the Night Work Prohibition on Women Workers (Republic Act 10151), and Resetting and Synchronizing the Armm Elections with the National and Local Elections in 2013 (Republic Act 10153).
The 19 other proposed measures are in various stages of processing and review in the legislative mill.
Ochoa also said that Congress had enacted Republic Act 10150, which extended the implementation of the Lifeline Rate to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001. This amendment is one of four recommended amendments to the Epira Law by the Executive Department. (With Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)
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