Calm, reasoned debates on Reproductive Health bill sought

Manila, Philippines - Sen. Edgardo Angara urged groups debating on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill to engage in “calm, reasoned and enlightened” discussion to keep it from causing division.      

He said both sides should refrain from name-calling and threatening each other.

“The same issue has gone through many Catholic countries, even more Catholic and devout than us, like Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Italy, but without this traumatic debate and name-calling,” Angara said.

The bill is undergoing plenary debates at the House of Representatives while it is undergoing public hearings in the Senate.

“What we need is to inform the people about what this bill is all about, what measures the RH bill is seeking so that each person has enough knowledge to make their own decisions on the matter,” he added.

The Catholic Church staunchly opposes the passage of the bill, believing that it promotes the use of abortifacient methods of contraception.

Supporters of the bill, on the other hand, maintain that the country needs a policy for population control.

On the side of the Church is boxing superstar and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, who openly opposes the passage of the bill.

He claimed that he and his wife Jinkee do not use condoms and practice abstinence.                                                               

Last Tuesday, he met with officials of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines to show his support for the bill.

He drew flak after it was discovered that Jinkee admitted in an interview that she used birth control pills.

Election lawyer and RH bill oppositionist Romulo Maca-lintal said Pacquiao merely stood by his principle.

“At least he makes known his position and stands by it... unlike some lawmakers who have not been heard or spoken before the halls of Congress,” he said.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said Pacquiao’s opposition to the bill has an “element of hypocrisy” after Jinkee’s admission.

Ramon San Pascual, executive director of the Philippine Legislator’s Committee on Population and Development, said Pacquiao is not yet “firmly grounded” on the issue.

He urged the lawmaker to address the high maternal and child mortality rates in Sarangani.

Non-government organization EnGendeRights also urged Pacquiao to rethink his position on the family planning bill because the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey showed that 35 percent of young adults aged 15 to 24 who have begun childbearing came from the Soccsksargen region.

Soccsksargen is composed of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sarangani, and General Santos.

EnGendeRights executive director Clara Rita Padilla noted that a high percentage of Filipinos who have not been to school live in the poorest provinces in the Philippines, including Sarangani.

“Manny Pacquiao may win his boxing bouts but he may be knocked out by the glaring realities that women and adolescent girls face in Sarangani,” she said in a statement.

She also said that based on the health survey, there is a high prevalence of wife beating in Sarangani, all the more reason to pass the RH bill which also addresses violence against women.

“Manny and the other legislators who oppose the RH bill should be mindful of the Philippines’ long-standing commitment to the 2000 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” Padilla said.

“A comprehensive RH law will help the Philippines achieve these goals.” – With Sheila Crisostomo, Helen Flores