Well, because they heard about the RH advocates' move to gather 1M signatures in support of the RH Bill, they, too, would like to gather the same. Well well well... COPYCATS!
By Tonette Orejas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:19:00 09/09/2008
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—All 91 parishes under the Archdiocese of San Fernando buckled down to work on Tuesday, in gathering at least a million signatures from Catholics in Pampanga against the proposed Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008.
The signature drive rolled a day after Archbishop Paciano Aniceto launched it during the 52nd canonical coronation anniversary of the Virgen delos Remedios, the patroness of the province.
"Let's fight the culture of death, the anti-life conspiracy. [Let us] oppose the reproductive health bill," Aniceto, 71, told some 30,000 devotees who gathered for a Mass on the open field of the Villa del Sol here.
"We have given out the forms. We will gather at least one million signatures against the RH bill," he told reporters at the close of the event.
Aniceto said the RH bill, which he said promoted the use of modern contraceptives, was part of a global conspiracy against life. The Catholic Church accepts only the natural form of planning in population management and considers abortion a mortal sin. The RH bill does not contain any provision allowing abortion but Catholic bishops fear that the measure would lay the groundwork for the legalization of abortion in the country.
"The conspiracy is not only in the Philippines; it involves the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), affluent nations, NGOs (nongovernment organizations) in America with business interest here whose purpose is to generate profits for their pharmaceutical industry,” Aniceto said in a mix of Filipino and English.
“It is not the health or dignity of the family that is being defended here. It is greed and profit motive that is the main goal of this conspiracy against life," Aniceto said.
For lack of time, he said he did not read the manifestoes from the Family Life Forum chapters in Bicol, Cebu and Mindanao that earlier expressed support for the effort of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' commission on family and life to have the RH bill rejected in Congress.
The signature campaign in Pampanga will be completed in two months, according to Aniceto, chair of the CBCP commission.
At the event's venue, parish pastoral councils hung about 20 streamers that either condemned the RH bill or asked Catholics to protect the sanctity of lives and families.
"Ito ay isang pagpapahayag ng aming paniniwala bilang miyembro ng Archdiocese of San Fernando na kami'y tutol sa RH bill dahil hindi nito ginagalang ang sagradong origin, kahulugan, valor ng buhay ng pamilya lalo na mga babae at mga anak (We, as members of the Archdiocese of San Fernando, are doing this to show that we oppose the RH bill because this does not respect the sacred origin, meaning and value of life of families, especially of mothers and their children)," Aniceto said.
He said the launch was timed with the anniversary of the coronation of the patroness, she being the mother of life.
"Mama Mary gave life to the light, the way and truth, who is Jesus Christ," he said.
He said he already gave up hopes for dialogues with the author of the bill, Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, adding the latter had issued statements expressing his position to push the measure into law.
"For the Church, there is no compromise for morality and the Ten Commandments. The Fifth Commandment is, 'Thou shall not kill,'" he said.
In July, Aniceto asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to clarify her position on the RH bill.
Lagman said Arroyo should respect the decision couples would make on which family planning method to use.
Bagong Simula sa Bayan ni Juan
Breaking News
For other news and information, scroll the links found on the sidebar. Links to other relevant sites and media blogs are located on the lower right portion. - RAFS76
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Catholics in Pampanga vow to gather 1M signatures vs RH bill
Posted by PhilMADE at 10:54 PM 0 comments
Monday, September 01, 2008
Behavior, not condoms, will stem AIDS, says Church
An interesting article on sex, religion and the RH bill was written by the Jester-in-Exile. Personally, one of the few blogs I check out every now and then.
Anyway, to the Catholic Church - Here you go again....
Read on:
Behavior, not condoms, will stem AIDS, says Church
By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:28:00 08/30/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- The Catholic Church wants the health department to stop promoting the use of condoms to prevent the spread of the AIDS-causing HIV virus.
Pangasinan Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Commission on Family and Life, said promoting the use of condoms was "dangerous and ineffective."
He was reacting to a statement of Health Undersecretary Mario Villaverde, who said last week that condom use is one of the most effective ways of stopping the spread of the AIDS-causing HIV virus.
Also, two senators -- Edgardo Angara and Pia Cayetano -- have called on the government to strengthen laws on AIDS prevention and control, including more seriously educating the public on how to avoid it by using protection, such as condoms.
But Archbishop Aniceto relayed the view of the Church in a statement issued on Saturday: “We are constrained to express grave concern over the press statement attributed to Undersecretary of Health Mario Villaverde that the Department of Health will now promote the nationwide use of condoms, allegedly as a means to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.”
Condom use will not effectively protect one from contracting the virus, the prelate said, adding that the prophylactic was not 100-percent foolproof.
“It is the duty of the DOH never to propose for general public use any prophylactic that could increase the incidence of the disease it is supposed to prevent,” the archbishop said.
“It is, therefore, irresponsible, imprudent, and dangerous for the department to declare that the use of the condom, without any change in unhealthy sexual behavior, will prevent sero-positive cases from transmitting HIV/AIDS to their sero-negative spouses,” he added.
The prelate said Villaverde’s statements coincided with the recent population report of the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the intense debates on the reproductive health bill in the House of Representatives.
“We are inclined to view this as an underhanded way of subverting our strong moral and constitutional objection to the proposed legislation, and confronting the nation with a fait accompli bereft of any moral or constitutional basis,” Aniceto said.
The prelate said the most effective way to prevent the spread of the virus was to have a change in sexual behavior.
The idea of “safe sex,” he said, lulls men and women into complacency, thinking that using condoms would protect them from the disease.
“We must encourage men and women to live morally upright lives, and to practice marital fidelity and chastity within and outside marriage, instead of telling them that risky sexual behavior is acceptable, provided they wear a condom to protect them and their partners from HIV/AIDS,” he added.
The DoH said the country was still under the low prevalence group but the designation was not a cause for comfort. Last year, the health department said an average of 29 new cases is reported each month, an increase from the 20 cases in the previous years.
From 1984 to 2007, the number of registered cases stood at 3,061, with 2,754 still alive.
But the actual figure could be higher, said the DoH and the World Health Organization. In 2007, the two agencies estimated that there could be 7,490 people living with HIV in the Philippines, up from the 6,000 estimate in 2002.
Worldwide, the Vatican is under fire from health advocates for sticking to its hardline stance against artificial contraception, including condoms, in the face of the tragedy of AIDS.
With a report from Cynthia D. Balana
Anyway, to the Catholic Church - Here you go again....
Read on:
Behavior, not condoms, will stem AIDS, says Church
By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:28:00 08/30/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- The Catholic Church wants the health department to stop promoting the use of condoms to prevent the spread of the AIDS-causing HIV virus.
Pangasinan Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Commission on Family and Life, said promoting the use of condoms was "dangerous and ineffective."
He was reacting to a statement of Health Undersecretary Mario Villaverde, who said last week that condom use is one of the most effective ways of stopping the spread of the AIDS-causing HIV virus.
Also, two senators -- Edgardo Angara and Pia Cayetano -- have called on the government to strengthen laws on AIDS prevention and control, including more seriously educating the public on how to avoid it by using protection, such as condoms.
But Archbishop Aniceto relayed the view of the Church in a statement issued on Saturday: “We are constrained to express grave concern over the press statement attributed to Undersecretary of Health Mario Villaverde that the Department of Health will now promote the nationwide use of condoms, allegedly as a means to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.”
Condom use will not effectively protect one from contracting the virus, the prelate said, adding that the prophylactic was not 100-percent foolproof.
“It is the duty of the DOH never to propose for general public use any prophylactic that could increase the incidence of the disease it is supposed to prevent,” the archbishop said.
“It is, therefore, irresponsible, imprudent, and dangerous for the department to declare that the use of the condom, without any change in unhealthy sexual behavior, will prevent sero-positive cases from transmitting HIV/AIDS to their sero-negative spouses,” he added.
The prelate said Villaverde’s statements coincided with the recent population report of the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the intense debates on the reproductive health bill in the House of Representatives.
“We are inclined to view this as an underhanded way of subverting our strong moral and constitutional objection to the proposed legislation, and confronting the nation with a fait accompli bereft of any moral or constitutional basis,” Aniceto said.
The prelate said the most effective way to prevent the spread of the virus was to have a change in sexual behavior.
The idea of “safe sex,” he said, lulls men and women into complacency, thinking that using condoms would protect them from the disease.
“We must encourage men and women to live morally upright lives, and to practice marital fidelity and chastity within and outside marriage, instead of telling them that risky sexual behavior is acceptable, provided they wear a condom to protect them and their partners from HIV/AIDS,” he added.
The DoH said the country was still under the low prevalence group but the designation was not a cause for comfort. Last year, the health department said an average of 29 new cases is reported each month, an increase from the 20 cases in the previous years.
From 1984 to 2007, the number of registered cases stood at 3,061, with 2,754 still alive.
But the actual figure could be higher, said the DoH and the World Health Organization. In 2007, the two agencies estimated that there could be 7,490 people living with HIV in the Philippines, up from the 6,000 estimate in 2002.
Worldwide, the Vatican is under fire from health advocates for sticking to its hardline stance against artificial contraception, including condoms, in the face of the tragedy of AIDS.
With a report from Cynthia D. Balana
Posted by PhilMADE at 11:53 PM 0 comments
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Signature Campaign for the passage of the RH Bill
Dear Friends,
Greetings!
The struggle for the passage of the Reproductive Bill (RH) in Congress rages on. The Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN) through our org, the Democratic Socialist Women of the Phils. (DSWP) initiated an online petition that we request you to support by attaching your signature. Please go to this site:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/rhan2008/petition.html
We hope to gather ONE MILLION SIGNATURES to show our legislators that there is a wide support base for the bill's passage despite what the opposition says. We will present the signatures both to the House of Representatives (HOR) and Senate within September as we are waiting for the schedule of plenary deliberations in the HOR and the release of the Senate Committee on Health's report.
Please support the petition. It will not take more than 5 minutes of your time. More than 10 women die daily due to pregnancy and childbirth-related causes. The big bulk of those who die are poor women at the prime of their lives. This is simply unacceptable and must be stopped. Congress has the power to do this.
Kindly forward this mail to all your friends.
Thank you very much.
Beth Angsioco
National Chair, DSWP
Secretary General
Reproductive Health Advocacy Network, RHAN
Posted by PhilMADE at 2:15 PM 0 comments
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Arroyo really pro-artificial birth control, says group
By Desiree Caluza, Tonette Orejas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:27:00 08/16/2008
BAGUIO CITY – Health officials and population experts here said President Macapagal-Arroyo is supporting artificial family planning methods although she is more vocal about the natural family planning method.
Aurora Quiray, Cordillera director of the Commission on Population, said Ms Arroyo has ordered the Department of Health, the commission and local governments to educate families on choices of family planning methods because the government considers population as a development issue.
Quiray said the government’s family planning program wants couples to have a choice in controlling their family.
“The government wants to balance artificial and natural family planning method and how they will be carried in the advocacy. In her State of the Nation Address, the President asserted the natural family planning method, but there is a mandate from her for DOH and Popcom on how the local government units will take charge of artificial family planning methods and contraceptives. The natural family planning method is a supplementation,” she said in a press forum here on Wednesday.
She said they held a region-wide consultation with Cordillera leaders on how to strengthen the program on population and development.
She said the consultation clarified the controversial reproductive health bills pending in Congress.
Quiray said it was also in the consultation that the support for artificial family planning method by the government was discussed.
In Pampanga, couples in Central Luzon appeared to favor more the use of modern than natural forms of family planning.
There has been a decline in the use of oral contraceptive pills from 50.56 percent in 2006 to 46.96 percent in 2007 but pills continued to be the first method of choice, according to data from the DOH’s field health service information system in seven provinces and 12 cities in Central Luzon.
The second most popular method – injectable contraceptive, which is done once every three months – also saw a declining number of users from 19.21 percent in 2006 to 16.62 percent in 2007.
More men went for vasectomy, which sharply rose from 0.05 percent in 2006 to 13 percent last year.
An increasing number of women, from 11.77 percent to 15.03 percent, resorted to tubal ligation.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:27:00 08/16/2008
BAGUIO CITY – Health officials and population experts here said President Macapagal-Arroyo is supporting artificial family planning methods although she is more vocal about the natural family planning method.
Aurora Quiray, Cordillera director of the Commission on Population, said Ms Arroyo has ordered the Department of Health, the commission and local governments to educate families on choices of family planning methods because the government considers population as a development issue.
Quiray said the government’s family planning program wants couples to have a choice in controlling their family.
“The government wants to balance artificial and natural family planning method and how they will be carried in the advocacy. In her State of the Nation Address, the President asserted the natural family planning method, but there is a mandate from her for DOH and Popcom on how the local government units will take charge of artificial family planning methods and contraceptives. The natural family planning method is a supplementation,” she said in a press forum here on Wednesday.
She said they held a region-wide consultation with Cordillera leaders on how to strengthen the program on population and development.
She said the consultation clarified the controversial reproductive health bills pending in Congress.
Quiray said it was also in the consultation that the support for artificial family planning method by the government was discussed.
In Pampanga, couples in Central Luzon appeared to favor more the use of modern than natural forms of family planning.
There has been a decline in the use of oral contraceptive pills from 50.56 percent in 2006 to 46.96 percent in 2007 but pills continued to be the first method of choice, according to data from the DOH’s field health service information system in seven provinces and 12 cities in Central Luzon.
The second most popular method – injectable contraceptive, which is done once every three months – also saw a declining number of users from 19.21 percent in 2006 to 16.62 percent in 2007.
More men went for vasectomy, which sharply rose from 0.05 percent in 2006 to 13 percent last year.
An increasing number of women, from 11.77 percent to 15.03 percent, resorted to tubal ligation.
Posted by PhilMADE at 7:57 PM 0 comments
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Agencies defy GMA on family planning
By Efren L. Danao
Senior Reporter
The MANILA Times
Five line agencies of the government expressed support on Monday for the reproductive health bills pending before the Senate, thus openly defying the stand of President Gloria Arroyo on artificial methods of family planning.
During a public hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, the Education, Health and Social Welfare departments and the Higher Education and Population commissions all recognized the “urgent” need for a national policy on reproductive health.
The Senate bills call for state-funded information on artificial and natural methods of family planning and access to services after individuals or couples had decided on what method to adopt. President Arroyo had toed the stand of the Catholic Church that natural methods are the only acceptable ways and that artificial ones promote abortion.
“The bills pending in the Senate move away from the stereotypical idea that women only exist to bear children, therefore giving light to other aspects of women’s health needs like the prevention and management of reproductive-tract infections and other gynecological conditions, elimination of violence against the sector and sexually-related education and counseling, among others,” a position paper of the Social-Welfare department said.
Health Undersecretary Mario Verde said the Health department supports the Senate bills’ calls for responsible parenthood, complete information on reproductive health and freedom of choice on size of family.
Non-government agencies also backed the passage of a law on reproductive health services. Pro-Life Philippines said the issue of reproductive health boils down to the individual right of women to phase their children as they deem appropriate and based on individual circumstances. The group described contraceptives as a health need. It said health is a human right and so the state should provide for it.
Former Sen. Francisco Tatad opposed the bills, saying they are unnecessary and are destructive of public morals and family values.
“Not only are they hedonistic, they are above all eugenicists. They seek to eliminate the poor and the socially unfit while paying lip service to their cause. While they neither mandate a two-child family nor legalize abortion, they prepare the ground for both,” Tatad added. Eugenics is the science that deals with the improvement, as by birth control of human mating, of hereditary qualities of a race or breed.
Sen. Pia Cayetano, the committee chairman, said she is willing to impose stiffer sanctions on abortion just to show that the Senate is against any law that would allow it.
She indicated that her panel would endorse reproductive health services funded by the state and assured pro-life groups that this policy is not a state intervention into bedroom activities.
Cayetano said the Committee on Health would hold one more hearing before preparing a draft committee report.
Senior Reporter
The MANILA Times
Five line agencies of the government expressed support on Monday for the reproductive health bills pending before the Senate, thus openly defying the stand of President Gloria Arroyo on artificial methods of family planning.
During a public hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, the Education, Health and Social Welfare departments and the Higher Education and Population commissions all recognized the “urgent” need for a national policy on reproductive health.
The Senate bills call for state-funded information on artificial and natural methods of family planning and access to services after individuals or couples had decided on what method to adopt. President Arroyo had toed the stand of the Catholic Church that natural methods are the only acceptable ways and that artificial ones promote abortion.
“The bills pending in the Senate move away from the stereotypical idea that women only exist to bear children, therefore giving light to other aspects of women’s health needs like the prevention and management of reproductive-tract infections and other gynecological conditions, elimination of violence against the sector and sexually-related education and counseling, among others,” a position paper of the Social-Welfare department said.
Health Undersecretary Mario Verde said the Health department supports the Senate bills’ calls for responsible parenthood, complete information on reproductive health and freedom of choice on size of family.
Non-government agencies also backed the passage of a law on reproductive health services. Pro-Life Philippines said the issue of reproductive health boils down to the individual right of women to phase their children as they deem appropriate and based on individual circumstances. The group described contraceptives as a health need. It said health is a human right and so the state should provide for it.
Former Sen. Francisco Tatad opposed the bills, saying they are unnecessary and are destructive of public morals and family values.
“Not only are they hedonistic, they are above all eugenicists. They seek to eliminate the poor and the socially unfit while paying lip service to their cause. While they neither mandate a two-child family nor legalize abortion, they prepare the ground for both,” Tatad added. Eugenics is the science that deals with the improvement, as by birth control of human mating, of hereditary qualities of a race or breed.
Sen. Pia Cayetano, the committee chairman, said she is willing to impose stiffer sanctions on abortion just to show that the Senate is against any law that would allow it.
She indicated that her panel would endorse reproductive health services funded by the state and assured pro-life groups that this policy is not a state intervention into bedroom activities.
Cayetano said the Committee on Health would hold one more hearing before preparing a draft committee report.
Posted by PhilMADE at 9:46 PM 0 comments
Friday, August 01, 2008
Wake up call for Filipinos
Manila Times
Sunday, July 27, 2008
By Lisi Owen
I arrived in Manila to intern with EnGendeRights, a women's legal NGO, almost 10 weeks ago. As I'm preparing to return to the US next week, I'd like to offer my thoughts on reproductive health policy in the Philippines. My departure conveniently coincides with the CBCP's recent vow to vehemently oppose the reproductive health bill pending in the House of Representatives as part of its "pro-life" stance on family planning, so this letter is all the more appropriate.
As I've never spent a significant amount of time in a developing country, living in the Philippines has been an enlightening experience for me in many ways. One thing I've learned is that whenever I think to myself, "It can't be that bad," it turns out that it can be that bad, and might be even worse than I can even imagine. That is certainly the case with the reproductive health (RH) policy here.
Before I left the US I Googled "Philippine reproductive health policy," and hits about "natural family planning" (NFP) came up. Since when I hear "natural family planning" I think nineteenth century, and since I've never known anyone who actually thought NFP was a legitimate method of preventing pregnancy, I of course didn't believe that NFP-only was seriously the position of the Philippine government on family planning. And of course I thought to myself, "It couldn't be that bad."
But it is that bad, and yes, even worse than I could have imagined. The Philippines is in the dark ages of reproductive health. "Withdrawal" is not a method of family planning; it is how adolescents who don't know how to use a condom end up dropping out of high school to raise a baby at age 16 and even end up having three to four children by age 20.
I have a staunchly Catholic friend in the US with whom I shared all the recent news articles articulating the CBCP's position and vow to oppose the RH bill, and his response was that Filipino Catholics need to "wake up." Spain, Belgium and other Catholic countries have woken up and changed their laws on contraception, and even abortion, so why is the Philippines still sleeping?
I have seen 30-year-old women being taught how to use a condom. When I tell Filipino friends that I work for a pro-choice NGO, they ask their friends whether they are "pro-contraception." I have seen women begging, pleading for ways to prevent future pregnancies, to end their families' suffering.There is no excuse for this kind of ignorance and primitive mindset about reproductive health, and the misery it imposes on a rapidly growing Filipino population.
In response to the Church's so-called "pro-life" position, I have this to say: Life is more than the possibility of a fertilized egg. Life is children living in pushcarts on the sidewalk, wearing no pants. Life is women whorisk death every time they get pregnant, but continue to do so because their husbands beat them when they refuse sex in the name of "natural family planning." Life is sitting on your front step waiting to die, because you're that miserable, and have nothing else to do.
If the Church is pro-life, then I ask this of the bishops: How do you justify the suffering you cause? This is not a matter of the Church or the government sitting idly by and allowing people to suffer, but an active promotion of misery, and it is wrong.
I recognize the American imperialism that has preceded me in the Philippines, and how that might influence your opinion of my views. But before you dismiss me as another American trying to impose my heathenish, western views on a country that's seen enough outsiders meddling in its business, let me clarify my position: It is one of choice. If you want to practice natural family planning with your partner, that is your prerogative. If you want to capitalize on the benefits of scientific progress to control your own reproductive health, that is your prerogative as well.
It is not, however, the prerogative of the government to impose its own archaic, paternalistic religious views on the suffering people of a nation, (in violation of both the Philippine Constitution and international law, I might add) such that they are stripped of their power of autonomous
decision-making. That, my good Filipino friends, is dictatorship.
[Lisi Owen is a legal intern at EnGendeRights, Inc. and secretary, LawStudents for Reproductive Justice, University of Denver Sturm College ofLaw. Her email address is lisi.owen@gmail.com]
Sunday, July 27, 2008
By Lisi Owen
I arrived in Manila to intern with EnGendeRights, a women's legal NGO, almost 10 weeks ago. As I'm preparing to return to the US next week, I'd like to offer my thoughts on reproductive health policy in the Philippines. My departure conveniently coincides with the CBCP's recent vow to vehemently oppose the reproductive health bill pending in the House of Representatives as part of its "pro-life" stance on family planning, so this letter is all the more appropriate.
As I've never spent a significant amount of time in a developing country, living in the Philippines has been an enlightening experience for me in many ways. One thing I've learned is that whenever I think to myself, "It can't be that bad," it turns out that it can be that bad, and might be even worse than I can even imagine. That is certainly the case with the reproductive health (RH) policy here.
Before I left the US I Googled "Philippine reproductive health policy," and hits about "natural family planning" (NFP) came up. Since when I hear "natural family planning" I think nineteenth century, and since I've never known anyone who actually thought NFP was a legitimate method of preventing pregnancy, I of course didn't believe that NFP-only was seriously the position of the Philippine government on family planning. And of course I thought to myself, "It couldn't be that bad."
But it is that bad, and yes, even worse than I could have imagined. The Philippines is in the dark ages of reproductive health. "Withdrawal" is not a method of family planning; it is how adolescents who don't know how to use a condom end up dropping out of high school to raise a baby at age 16 and even end up having three to four children by age 20.
I have a staunchly Catholic friend in the US with whom I shared all the recent news articles articulating the CBCP's position and vow to oppose the RH bill, and his response was that Filipino Catholics need to "wake up." Spain, Belgium and other Catholic countries have woken up and changed their laws on contraception, and even abortion, so why is the Philippines still sleeping?
I have seen 30-year-old women being taught how to use a condom. When I tell Filipino friends that I work for a pro-choice NGO, they ask their friends whether they are "pro-contraception." I have seen women begging, pleading for ways to prevent future pregnancies, to end their families' suffering.There is no excuse for this kind of ignorance and primitive mindset about reproductive health, and the misery it imposes on a rapidly growing Filipino population.
In response to the Church's so-called "pro-life" position, I have this to say: Life is more than the possibility of a fertilized egg. Life is children living in pushcarts on the sidewalk, wearing no pants. Life is women whorisk death every time they get pregnant, but continue to do so because their husbands beat them when they refuse sex in the name of "natural family planning." Life is sitting on your front step waiting to die, because you're that miserable, and have nothing else to do.
If the Church is pro-life, then I ask this of the bishops: How do you justify the suffering you cause? This is not a matter of the Church or the government sitting idly by and allowing people to suffer, but an active promotion of misery, and it is wrong.
I recognize the American imperialism that has preceded me in the Philippines, and how that might influence your opinion of my views. But before you dismiss me as another American trying to impose my heathenish, western views on a country that's seen enough outsiders meddling in its business, let me clarify my position: It is one of choice. If you want to practice natural family planning with your partner, that is your prerogative. If you want to capitalize on the benefits of scientific progress to control your own reproductive health, that is your prerogative as well.
It is not, however, the prerogative of the government to impose its own archaic, paternalistic religious views on the suffering people of a nation, (in violation of both the Philippine Constitution and international law, I might add) such that they are stripped of their power of autonomous
decision-making. That, my good Filipino friends, is dictatorship.
[Lisi Owen is a legal intern at EnGendeRights, Inc. and secretary, LawStudents for Reproductive Justice, University of Denver Sturm College ofLaw. Her email address is
Posted by PhilMADE at 4:25 PM 0 comments
Thursday, July 31, 2008
It’s not over for population bills in House
By Christian V. Esguerra, TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:41:00 07/30/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Now that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has reiterated her preference for natural family planning in her State of the Nation Address (SONA), is it finally over for the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill at the House of Representatives?
No way, the leading proponents of the measure, mostly administration lawmakers, said Tuesday.
“It was not a statement of doom [but] only a statement of her preference,” said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of the bill that seeks to provide couples a choice of natural and artificial methods of contraception.
Part of the President’s remarks in her report to the nation on Monday was this: “Informed choice should mean letting more couples, who are mostly Catholics, know about natural family planning.”
She also said natural family planning was a key factor in the low population growth rate.
Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin expressed “respect” for Ms Arroyo’s position but said she would still push for the passage of the bill set to be calendared for second reading by the House committee on rules.
“That was her personal opinion,” Garin said. “But to me, informed choice means you present everything, both artificial and natural methods, and let couples decide.”
Battle in rules panel
Senior Deputy Minority Floor Leader Roilo Golez, who is on the side of those opposed to the measure, including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said its fate depended on Speaker Prospero Nograles and Majority Leader Arthur Defensor.
“The battle will be in the rules committee, which decides when a bill is calendared for plenary debate,” Golez said.
In a press conference Tuesday, Nograles invited congressmen to submit in writing their proposed amendments to the RH bill.
“It will not be as bloody as you think,” he told reporters, referring to deliberations on the measure. “We will collate all [the proposed amendments] and try to find out what we can accept and cannot accept … We will get a consensus.”
An issue that does not sit well with the opposing camp is the use of taxpayers’ money to purchase contraceptives such as pills, injectibles and intrauterine devices.
Lagman said this had to be so because the measure was aimed at providing not only “information” on but also “access” to all family planning methods.
“Once couples have information and decide on using artificial methods, access should be available,” he said.
Categorical stance urged
Despite Ms Arroyo’s plug for natural family planning in her SONA, CBCP officials were less than enthused.
“[Her] statement heavily favors the Church’s program on natural family planning, which is a very good start. But a more categorical [stance] is expected by the bishops—for her not to promote the [RH] bill which, [as] a whole, is a failure in rich and developed countries,” said Archbishop Paciano Aniceto of San Fernando, Pampanga, who chairs the CBCP’s Commission on Family and Life.
“It seemed she was more focused on accomplishments and projects for the improvement of the economy,” the archbishop said, adding:
“She said that by promoting natural planning and female education, the population has been curbed during her administration. This is the same conclusion of the New York Council on Planned Parenthood.”
According to Aniceto, the President should reject an RH program that promotes the use of artificial contraception because such a program has “wreaked havoc on the morality of families and youth in the West.”
Reiterating the CBCP stand, Aniceto urged the Arroyo administration to “translate population into human capital by providing more funds for programs on education, infrastructure and subsidy to farmers in all aspects of their agricultural needs.”
He also called for more support for poor overseas Filipino workers who, he said, “are the ones actually supporting the economy, not the rich.”
“In other words, her government must start an alternative development program that is in consonance with the dignity and moral values of the Filipino,” he said.
‘Good for her’
Archbishop Jesus Dosado of Ozamiz City reacted to Ms Arroyo’s statement of support for natural family planning with a tepid “Good for her.”
“What she should do should be according to the natural law,” Dosado said.
Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa City said Ms Arroyo should show her sincerity by explicitly opposing the Philippine Legislators Council for Population and Development, the umbrella group of lawmakers and private organizations lobbying for a national RH policy.
“Reproductive health bills really mean abortion,” Arguelles told the Church-run Radio Veritas.
Dosado, who had stirred controversy with a pastoral letter saying “pro-abortion” politicians would be denied holy communion, said those backing the RH bill in the House could suffer the same fate.
“I extend it to people legislatively for reproductive health,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the phone.
“The bill hides many things. It doesn’t mandate abortion but there are things that are hidden in it that would lead eventually to abortion,” he said.
Dosado expressed concern over such provisions as mandatory sex education, widespread distribution of contraceptives, and the classification of contraceptives as essential medicines.
These and other provisions cloak the bill’s “anti-life” intentions, Dosado said.
“We have to be unambiguous with our wording. That is what we object [to in] the bill,” he said.
Not gov’t policy
In another phone interview, former Health Secretary Alberto Romualdez said Ms Arroyo’s pitch for natural family planning should not dissuade lawmakers from seeing the RH bill through.
“It’s a personal commitment that she’s not imposing on the rest of the government,” Romualdez said, adding that proof of this was Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral’s declaration that she was holding to her stand that couples should be given a choice between natural and artificial contraception.
Said Cabral over dzMM: “Whatever was my personal opinion before the SONA, that remains until today.”
But she said she would continue to promote government programs on responsible parenthood pending the approval of RH legislation by the House and the Senate.
“The existing directives like promoting responsible parenthood and promoting natural family planning, we will follow. What we just want is that apart from the natural family planning, we should have promotion and information on other methods,” Cabral said.
These are “not mutually exclusive,” she said.
Romualdez said that in his opinion, “it’s OK for the President to hold an extreme belief as long as she does not impose it on others.”
He said lawmakers should view Ms Arroyo’s reiteration of her position as a message: “She knows there’s a need to manage the population. So lawmakers should look at the bill as a population management method that we need to pass. Rather than be discouraged, they should be encouraged [to pass it].”
Romualdez held the health portfolio during the abbreviated term of President Joseph Estrada. He drew up a program to curb population, including distribution of contraceptives to the poor, but it had no chance to take off with Estrada’s unseating in January 2001. With reports from Tonette Orejas in Pampanga; Kristine L. Alave in Manila
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:41:00 07/30/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Now that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has reiterated her preference for natural family planning in her State of the Nation Address (SONA), is it finally over for the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill at the House of Representatives?
No way, the leading proponents of the measure, mostly administration lawmakers, said Tuesday.
“It was not a statement of doom [but] only a statement of her preference,” said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of the bill that seeks to provide couples a choice of natural and artificial methods of contraception.
Part of the President’s remarks in her report to the nation on Monday was this: “Informed choice should mean letting more couples, who are mostly Catholics, know about natural family planning.”
She also said natural family planning was a key factor in the low population growth rate.
Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin expressed “respect” for Ms Arroyo’s position but said she would still push for the passage of the bill set to be calendared for second reading by the House committee on rules.
“That was her personal opinion,” Garin said. “But to me, informed choice means you present everything, both artificial and natural methods, and let couples decide.”
Battle in rules panel
Senior Deputy Minority Floor Leader Roilo Golez, who is on the side of those opposed to the measure, including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said its fate depended on Speaker Prospero Nograles and Majority Leader Arthur Defensor.
“The battle will be in the rules committee, which decides when a bill is calendared for plenary debate,” Golez said.
In a press conference Tuesday, Nograles invited congressmen to submit in writing their proposed amendments to the RH bill.
“It will not be as bloody as you think,” he told reporters, referring to deliberations on the measure. “We will collate all [the proposed amendments] and try to find out what we can accept and cannot accept … We will get a consensus.”
An issue that does not sit well with the opposing camp is the use of taxpayers’ money to purchase contraceptives such as pills, injectibles and intrauterine devices.
Lagman said this had to be so because the measure was aimed at providing not only “information” on but also “access” to all family planning methods.
“Once couples have information and decide on using artificial methods, access should be available,” he said.
Categorical stance urged
Despite Ms Arroyo’s plug for natural family planning in her SONA, CBCP officials were less than enthused.
“[Her] statement heavily favors the Church’s program on natural family planning, which is a very good start. But a more categorical [stance] is expected by the bishops—for her not to promote the [RH] bill which, [as] a whole, is a failure in rich and developed countries,” said Archbishop Paciano Aniceto of San Fernando, Pampanga, who chairs the CBCP’s Commission on Family and Life.
“It seemed she was more focused on accomplishments and projects for the improvement of the economy,” the archbishop said, adding:
“She said that by promoting natural planning and female education, the population has been curbed during her administration. This is the same conclusion of the New York Council on Planned Parenthood.”
According to Aniceto, the President should reject an RH program that promotes the use of artificial contraception because such a program has “wreaked havoc on the morality of families and youth in the West.”
Reiterating the CBCP stand, Aniceto urged the Arroyo administration to “translate population into human capital by providing more funds for programs on education, infrastructure and subsidy to farmers in all aspects of their agricultural needs.”
He also called for more support for poor overseas Filipino workers who, he said, “are the ones actually supporting the economy, not the rich.”
“In other words, her government must start an alternative development program that is in consonance with the dignity and moral values of the Filipino,” he said.
‘Good for her’
Archbishop Jesus Dosado of Ozamiz City reacted to Ms Arroyo’s statement of support for natural family planning with a tepid “Good for her.”
“What she should do should be according to the natural law,” Dosado said.
Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa City said Ms Arroyo should show her sincerity by explicitly opposing the Philippine Legislators Council for Population and Development, the umbrella group of lawmakers and private organizations lobbying for a national RH policy.
“Reproductive health bills really mean abortion,” Arguelles told the Church-run Radio Veritas.
Dosado, who had stirred controversy with a pastoral letter saying “pro-abortion” politicians would be denied holy communion, said those backing the RH bill in the House could suffer the same fate.
“I extend it to people legislatively for reproductive health,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the phone.
“The bill hides many things. It doesn’t mandate abortion but there are things that are hidden in it that would lead eventually to abortion,” he said.
Dosado expressed concern over such provisions as mandatory sex education, widespread distribution of contraceptives, and the classification of contraceptives as essential medicines.
These and other provisions cloak the bill’s “anti-life” intentions, Dosado said.
“We have to be unambiguous with our wording. That is what we object [to in] the bill,” he said.
Not gov’t policy
In another phone interview, former Health Secretary Alberto Romualdez said Ms Arroyo’s pitch for natural family planning should not dissuade lawmakers from seeing the RH bill through.
“It’s a personal commitment that she’s not imposing on the rest of the government,” Romualdez said, adding that proof of this was Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral’s declaration that she was holding to her stand that couples should be given a choice between natural and artificial contraception.
Said Cabral over dzMM: “Whatever was my personal opinion before the SONA, that remains until today.”
But she said she would continue to promote government programs on responsible parenthood pending the approval of RH legislation by the House and the Senate.
“The existing directives like promoting responsible parenthood and promoting natural family planning, we will follow. What we just want is that apart from the natural family planning, we should have promotion and information on other methods,” Cabral said.
These are “not mutually exclusive,” she said.
Romualdez said that in his opinion, “it’s OK for the President to hold an extreme belief as long as she does not impose it on others.”
He said lawmakers should view Ms Arroyo’s reiteration of her position as a message: “She knows there’s a need to manage the population. So lawmakers should look at the bill as a population management method that we need to pass. Rather than be discouraged, they should be encouraged [to pass it].”
Romualdez held the health portfolio during the abbreviated term of President Joseph Estrada. He drew up a program to curb population, including distribution of contraceptives to the poor, but it had no chance to take off with Estrada’s unseating in January 2001. With reports from Tonette Orejas in Pampanga; Kristine L. Alave in Manila
Posted by PhilMADE at 11:45 PM 0 comments
Couples in need of birth control information
By Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes
Northern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 23:23:00 07/29/2008
MANGALDAN, Pangasinan, Philippines—Ricky Palaganas, 21, and his girlfriend, Renelyn Bateng-as, 20, have a seven-month old child and are about to get married.
Palaganas, a family driver, said they decided not to have another baby soon because of his small income but had no idea how to space their children.
Palaganas and Bateng-as are among the 16 percent of married couples in Pangasinan classified as having an "unmet need" for family planning.
"Unmet need" refers to a situation when spouses have reached the desired number of children and do not want to have more children or want to space their children but have no access to any method of family planning.
"We welcome the debates on the proposed reproductive health bill as cases like this and the couples' need to plan their families are surfacing," said provincial population officer Luz Muego.
While the Catholic Church rejected the bill, Muego said Church officials might not be aware that many local governments have been using part of their funds to buy contraceptives for their poor constituents.
She said that since 2005, local governments have been implementing the population program without support from the national government and without a clear policy to enforce it.
In July 2005, the Department of Health issued Administrative Order 158 asking local governments to provide family planning services and guaranteeing the availability of contraceptives in their areas.
The order was issued because the United States Agency for International Development stopped the supply of free family planning commodities, Muego said.
She said some local governments have been reluctant to implement the order because of shortage of funds.
But with the passage of the RH bill, she said the national government would have to finance the population program in the country.
Muego said she did not believe that the bill would open the floodgates to contraceptive use as feared by the Catholic Church.
But she said that "the poor will be more marginalized if the government will not provide them free contraceptives."
She said under the proposed bill, contraceptives would be considered under the category of "essential medicines and supplies," that would be included in the regular purchase of national and local hospitals and government health units.
Vicky Sotto, Mangaldan town population officer, said couples should space or limit the number of their children as multiple births put the health of women at risk.
She said couples undergoing marriage counseling in the town wanted to plan their families due to poverty.
"But I tell them that they should consider the woman's health. Every pregnancy and birth affects the woman's health and it could take two to three years for her to recover under normal conditions. How much more if the couple is poor and the woman has no access to proper nutrition?" she said.
Mangaldan has an ordinance allowing the town government to buy family planning commodities that are given free to indigent couples or sold to those who can afford them.
Posted by PhilMADE at 11:42 PM 0 comments
Ifugao drafts guidelines for reproductive health code
By Desiree Caluza
Northern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 19:35:00 07/30/2008
BANAUE, Ifugao, Philippines—The home of the famed rice terraces has become the second province to carry out a reproductive health code that would give people a wider choice on family planning methods.
At a meeting of Cordillera's regional peace and order council here last week, Ifugao Governor Teodoro Baguilat said the province was finalizing the rules and regulations to adopt the code.
Aurora is the first province to have a local reproductive health code.
Joyce Niwane, provincial social welfare officer, said Ifugao would promote artificial and natural family planning methods to support the code.
"We believe that the people's choice here is artificial family planning method so that is what we give them," she said.
With close to 181,500 residents, Ifugao ranks among the Cordillera provinces with the highest population records.
Apart from easing population here, Niwane said they want to lessen the cases of violence against women and children by enforcing the code.
"The implementing guidelines will cover concerns on economic and human rights, violence against women and children, development issues, labor issues, prostitution and even entertainment," she said.
She expressed alarm over the rising cases of adoption in the province. "Adoption is not bad, but why are we giving away our children?" she asked.
During the meeting, the council, made up of officials from government agencies in Cordillera, approved a resolution supporting a conference on women and children that will be held in Baguio City in November.
Aurora Quiray, regional director of the Commission on Population, said the conference aims to improve peace and order in the Cordillera by curbing crimes committed against women and children.
"Peace and order continue to be a main concern not only of the police but of the Cordillera as a whole. In most instances of conflicts, women and children are the ones greatly affected," she said.
Describing women and children as "most vulnerable," Quiray said several laws have been enacted to protect them.
But, she said, there is still a low level of awareness of the rights and responsibilities of women and children and the laws to protect them.
Baguilat said the conference is expected to identify ways to deal with issues involving violence against women, including rape.
"The reason we have low statistics on rape is that these cases are settled through ‘areglo’ (out-of-court settlement) as dictated by some cultural practices," he said.
Niwane said Ifugao has one of the highest number of cases of abuse against women and children because residents are coming out openly.
Posted by PhilMADE at 11:38 PM 0 comments
GMA proudly imposes misery to Filipinos in 2008 SONA
MEDIA STATEMENT
Benjamin de Leon, President
The Forum for Family Planning and Development, Inc.,
former Executive Director of the Commission on Population and
former Presidential Assistant for Social Development,(UnderSecretary)
Office of Former President Fidel V. Ramos
GMA proudly imposes misery to Filipinos in 2008 SONA
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address is full of contradictions to say the least and an insult to the millions of poor and suffering Filipinos that she has repeatedly referred to in her speech. I find quite touching that President Arroyo said that she “spends time every day with the underprivileged and under represented who cannot get a grip on their lives in the daily, all-consuming struggle to make ends meet.” She said that she worries for the mothers who bear the burden of the families or the fathers who are out of work, the OFWs who are away from their families and the young graduates who want to find work.
President Arroyo talked about global problems that have an impact in the country today and in countries around the world. Despite the long lines of Filipinos queuing to buy a few kilo of cheaper rice, she said that “rice production since 2000 increased an average of 4.07% a year, twice the population growth rate.” And with this note, she spoke irresponsibly and inaccurately that the promotion of natural family planning and female education, have curbed population growth to 2.04% during her administration as against when artificial birth control was pushed. This is falsehood and no different from the lies and misleading statements that many religious and Catholic groups have continued to spread.
The President said that their “campaign spreads awareness of responsible parenthood regarding birth spacing.” And her concept of birth spacing in her own words is that “informed choice should mean letting more couples, who are mostly Catholics, know about natural family planning.”
I don’t know whether to laugh or to rally in the streets with this kind of statement and analogy. I am ashamed that the very government agency that should actively promote all methods of contraception in accordance with its mandate is now only advocating natural family planning. This is most unfair and even cruel as it deprives couples who want to use other methods of family planning. It is ironic that I served the same office as Executive Director many years ago. I am referring to the Commission on Population. Mrs. Arroyo also said towards the end of her speech that “where government can contribute nothing useful, stay away.” Therefore I say to POPCOM, please stay away from people unless you have the courage to really put their needs before your own. I strongly advise that you go back to the very mission and objectives of the Commission on Population; otherwise the population community and the very people you have committed to serve will surely lose their TRUST in you.
The true voices of the Filipinos are reflected in these scientific, accurate and truthful studies and surveys conducted by distinguished scientists, sociologists, demographers of our country whose credibility can not be questioned. Their work was done in pursuit of the truth and not to manipulate and create propaganda.
The Pulse Asia Survey shows that:
* 9 out of 10 Filipinos or 92 percent of the population consider family planning important
* 89 percent of Filipinos think that government should provide budgetary support for modern methods of family planning including modern contraceptives.
The National Statistics Office Family Planning Survey shows that:
* From 1996 to 2005, use of natural family planning methods have gone done from 1.0 to .04 percent while modern contraceptive use continue to rise from 18.5 to 26.2 during the same period.
The National Statistical Coordination Board last March 5, 2008 released a study which showed that “poverty has worsened in 2003-2006 from 30 percent to 33 percent. Defined in terms of families living in poverty, this percentage translates to 4.7 million families or some 27.6 million Filipinos, a 3.8 million increase from 2003.
Another dimension of poverty is the incidence of involuntary hunger. According to the Social Weather Station (SWS) Long term trends of self-reported involuntary hunger indicates an increasing prevalence of hunger among households from less than 10 per cent in July 1998 to 19 per cent in February 2007. What is disturbing is that according to this study, there are about 612,000 households or more than 3 million severely hungry Filipinos.
And so I ask our President to intelligently look at the realities before her and be the kind of leader that we expect her to be. You are the President of all faiths and not just of Catholics. Make intelligent decisions based on evidence and don’t derail the truth to suit or please the Catholic hierarchy. They are not the majority and they certainly can’t speak for the millions of Filipinos suffering daily. These priests have no business deciding for the lives of our women and young people.
In closing I say that we will support the Reproductive Health Bill and we will continue to fight for the rights of women and men to have access to accurate and safe family planning
Benjamin de Leon, President
The Forum for Family Planning and Development, Inc.,
former Executive Director of the Commission on Population and
former Presidential Assistant for Social Development,(UnderSecretary)
Office of Former President Fidel V. Ramos
GMA proudly imposes misery to Filipinos in 2008 SONA
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address is full of contradictions to say the least and an insult to the millions of poor and suffering Filipinos that she has repeatedly referred to in her speech. I find quite touching that President Arroyo said that she “spends time every day with the underprivileged and under represented who cannot get a grip on their lives in the daily, all-consuming struggle to make ends meet.” She said that she worries for the mothers who bear the burden of the families or the fathers who are out of work, the OFWs who are away from their families and the young graduates who want to find work.
President Arroyo talked about global problems that have an impact in the country today and in countries around the world. Despite the long lines of Filipinos queuing to buy a few kilo of cheaper rice, she said that “rice production since 2000 increased an average of 4.07% a year, twice the population growth rate.” And with this note, she spoke irresponsibly and inaccurately that the promotion of natural family planning and female education, have curbed population growth to 2.04% during her administration as against when artificial birth control was pushed. This is falsehood and no different from the lies and misleading statements that many religious and Catholic groups have continued to spread.
The President said that their “campaign spreads awareness of responsible parenthood regarding birth spacing.” And her concept of birth spacing in her own words is that “informed choice should mean letting more couples, who are mostly Catholics, know about natural family planning.”
I don’t know whether to laugh or to rally in the streets with this kind of statement and analogy. I am ashamed that the very government agency that should actively promote all methods of contraception in accordance with its mandate is now only advocating natural family planning. This is most unfair and even cruel as it deprives couples who want to use other methods of family planning. It is ironic that I served the same office as Executive Director many years ago. I am referring to the Commission on Population. Mrs. Arroyo also said towards the end of her speech that “where government can contribute nothing useful, stay away.” Therefore I say to POPCOM, please stay away from people unless you have the courage to really put their needs before your own. I strongly advise that you go back to the very mission and objectives of the Commission on Population; otherwise the population community and the very people you have committed to serve will surely lose their TRUST in you.
The true voices of the Filipinos are reflected in these scientific, accurate and truthful studies and surveys conducted by distinguished scientists, sociologists, demographers of our country whose credibility can not be questioned. Their work was done in pursuit of the truth and not to manipulate and create propaganda.
The Pulse Asia Survey shows that:
* 9 out of 10 Filipinos or 92 percent of the population consider family planning important
* 89 percent of Filipinos think that government should provide budgetary support for modern methods of family planning including modern contraceptives.
The National Statistics Office Family Planning Survey shows that:
* From 1996 to 2005, use of natural family planning methods have gone done from 1.0 to .04 percent while modern contraceptive use continue to rise from 18.5 to 26.2 during the same period.
The National Statistical Coordination Board last March 5, 2008 released a study which showed that “poverty has worsened in 2003-2006 from 30 percent to 33 percent. Defined in terms of families living in poverty, this percentage translates to 4.7 million families or some 27.6 million Filipinos, a 3.8 million increase from 2003.
Another dimension of poverty is the incidence of involuntary hunger. According to the Social Weather Station (SWS) Long term trends of self-reported involuntary hunger indicates an increasing prevalence of hunger among households from less than 10 per cent in July 1998 to 19 per cent in February 2007. What is disturbing is that according to this study, there are about 612,000 households or more than 3 million severely hungry Filipinos.
And so I ask our President to intelligently look at the realities before her and be the kind of leader that we expect her to be. You are the President of all faiths and not just of Catholics. Make intelligent decisions based on evidence and don’t derail the truth to suit or please the Catholic hierarchy. They are not the majority and they certainly can’t speak for the millions of Filipinos suffering daily. These priests have no business deciding for the lives of our women and young people.
In closing I say that we will support the Reproductive Health Bill and we will continue to fight for the rights of women and men to have access to accurate and safe family planning
Posted by PhilMADE at 6:55 PM 0 comments
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