House to get RH bill moving again

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives will try to extricate the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill from the doldrums and get it moving again in plenary session next week.

Stung by criticism from Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco that he was “dribbling” the measure, Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II assured his colleagues that he would move the bill to the next phase, the period for amendments, and possibly to a vote.

“We will make sure that the amendment period will come about, but that will depend on how serious the pro-RH lawmakers are. They should attend sessions, from beginning to end,” he said.

He said the attendance has to be “an overwhelming number enough to win in case of a nominal voting.”

In his word war with Cojuangco, Gonzales blamed pro-RH members for not attending sessions or leaving after the roll call, resulting in the failure of the House to tackle the RH bill.

Those opposed to the measure have been keeping a close watch on the attendance and are quick to question the quorum whenever they see that there are not enough members present.

Under the House rules, whenever a quorum question is raised, the presiding officer can immediately adjourn the session or order the calling of the roll. If not enough members respond to the roll call, he has no choice but declare an adjournment.

The House failed to gather enough attendance the whole week last week. This week, the chamber succeeded in mustering a quorum only on Monday.

The RH bill has not moved since Aug. 6, when President Aquino had a luncheon-caucus with congressmen in Malacañang, where he appealed to them to close floor debates and go into the period of amendments.

Hours later, the House voted overwhelmingly to terminate debates. However, not a single amendment has been introduced.

Before the Halloween break last month, House leaders presented a compromise version of the bill. That version too has gotten stuck in the gridlock.

This has prompted RH advocates outside Congress to call on Aquino to intervene again. However, Palace officials have said they were leaving the bill’s fate to lawmakers and the President was not losing hope that his allies, who dominated both houses of Congress, would approve it.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, the measure’s principal author, has made an impassioned appeal for a “small measure of sacrifice” on the part of his colleagues by attending sessions.

“May I earnestly reiterate my appeal for all of us, RH bill authors and advocates, to be present during the last 12 session days before the Christmas break and maintain a quorum up to adjournment,” he said in a letter to them.

“In our 13-year crusade for the enactment of a reproductive health law, it is only now in the 15th Congress that we have reached the threshold of passing the RH bill,” he told RH supporters.

“Let us collectively seize the moment and deliver without further delay the bill which is pregnant with fulfillment for maternal and infant health, reproductive self-determination as a human right, and sustainable human development,” he said.

According to Lagman’s count, RH supporters make up a majority of the 283-member House.

Yesterday, Lagman said the world is watching the progress of the bill “as women worldwide are eagerly anticipating to celebrate its enactment.”

He said he gathered his impression from participants in an international conference on the post-2015 action plan on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) held last week in Quezon City.

Of the eight MDGs, he said data from participating countries show that the reduction of the maternal mortality rate (MMR) due to complications from pregnancy and childbirth is the least achievable by 2015.

“The MMR in the Philippines has even worsened to 14-15 deaths daily (221 deaths per 100,000 live births) from 10-11 daily (172 deaths per 100,000 live births) in 2006. The MDG target by 2015 is 52/100,000. Annually, 500,000 mothers die worldwide due to causes related to pregnancy and childbirth,” he added.

“The enactment of the RH law will enable the country to attain or approximate the attainment of all the MDGs because the unifying common denominator of the MDGs is the advancement of reproductive health,” he said.