Pro-life advocates stage rally vs lawmakers pushing RH bill

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines  – Pro-life advocates called anew for the junking of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill during a rally last Friday, saying deliberations on the measure are a waste of time.

The protesters also said lawmakers should focus on measures than can address the need for economic development in the country.

“Congressman Lagman is wrong. It’s not the RH bill that can make the country prosperous; it should be junked,” said Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez in his address to participants in the “Bulacan Rally for Life” that culminated at the Basilica Minore.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman is the main author of the RH bill that is strongly opposed by the Catholic Church and pro-life groups. Golez cited the latest report of the National Statistics Office (NSO) that the country’s population growth rate has dropped 1.9 percent. Data from the NSO also showed that based on the 2007 census of population, the country’s population growth rate is 2.04 percent.

Golez said that in different regions, population growth rates are below two percent, but it is slightly higher in Metro Manila and in nearby regions like Central Luzon and Calabarzon because of migration.

He noted that people from impoverished regions move to areas near the capital to find work.

“There is also a study that debunks Lagman’s claim that when the population is huge, there are more poor people. But why is it that in Parañaque, we have a huge population, but the people are not impoverished?” Golez said.

He cited the experiences of Asian countries like Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, and Korea.

Golez said the population density of these countries ranges from 600 to 1,400 persons per square kilometer, and yet these economies are more stable than the Philippines.

“We don’t need the RH bill. What we need is right leadership and the right economic strategy,” he said.

He also said that it is unlikely that the poor are pulling down the economy because most of the 8.7 million overseas Filipino workers remitting at least $21 billion every year come from the poor.                                              

Former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza also criticized the proposal of Sen. Pia Cayetano for sex education to be included in the school curriculum.

“If Sen. Pia Cayetano wants her children to have sex education, she should do it at home,” he said.

The “Bulacan Rally for Life” was organized by the Diocese of Malolos headed by Bishop Jose Francisco Oliveros.

Earlier, Monsignor Manny Villaroman and Father Dario Cabral said the rally was meant to be a show of force to show lawmakers that the province is against the RH Bill.