'Impeachment vs Corona to affect RH bill passage'

MANILA, Philippines - The administration will be delaying the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill if it seeks the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona and Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said yesterday.

Sotto said President Aquino’s effort to fast-track the passage of the RH bill will go to waste if the impeachment process will push through because once the articles of impeachment reach the Senate, the trial will be prioritized.

“This is proof that this bill is an evil measure,” Sotto said of the RH bill.

Sotto has been accused by the proponents of the RH bill of employing delay tactics in an attempt to prevent passage of the measure.

He has denied the allegation and pointed out that he has always placed the measure up for debates whenever there were interpellators.

Sotto said his critics cannot blame him this time if the impeachment proceedings push through.

He expressed confidence that the RH bill will not succeed in its present form. He claimed that 10 senators are inclined to vote against the measure and more can be expected to do so as the debates continue.

Senators Pia Cayetano and Miriam Defensor-Santiago, the authors and sponsors of the bill, have been calling for an end to the debates so that voting can take place.

Sotto has rejected this call because many senators have lined up for interpellation.