Palace hits bishop for linking typhoon to RH

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang admonished yesterday a Catholic bishop for linking the devastation caused by super typhoon “Pablo” to the Reproductive Health (RH) bill instead of offering a helping hand to the government in assisting the victims.

“I would like to invite (Manila Auxiliary) Bishop (Broderick) Pabillo to join hands with us to pray for a successful search for those who are still missing and to pray for the people who perished in the tragedy. Now is the time for the good bishop to show God’s compassion and not speak of the wrath of God,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

“To quote Abe Lincoln: ‘With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right,’ the President has called on all of us to ‘bind the nation’s wounds’ brought about by the ravages of typhoon Pablo,” Lacierda added.

According to Pabillo, tragedy always seems to strike the country every time Congress tackles the RH bill and that he is not sure if that is still coincidence.

“Or maybe because God wants to send a message,” Pabillo said in an interview with Radio Veritas, adding that this message must not be ignored.

He also said the proposed measure must not be rushed or secretly pushed to be passed.

Last August, some bishops likewise noted that nature must be sending out a message every time the country would talk about the RH bill. At that time, heavy rains and floods affected various parts of the country.

Sotto not giving up

Meanwhile, one of the opponents of the RH bill in the Senate intends to spoil the celebratory mood of the measure’s proponents with a last ditch effort to rally support against the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III has a few tricks left up his sleeve, starting with yet another privilege speech which he will deliver next week.

According to Sotto, his speech would be directed at his colleagues in Congress and President Aquino, who has recently started lobbying for approval of the RH bill.

“This will be directed primarily at the legislators. Baka sakali matauhan sila (Hopefully, they would come to their senses),” Sotto said in an interview.

Just like in his previous manifestations and privileged speeches against the RH bill, Sotto would once again bring up what he believes is the true intention of the measure, which is to promote promiscuity among the youth, support the multinational contraceptive manufacturers and open the door to legalizing abortion in the country.

“All the organizations backing the bill are pro-abortion. Do they (legislators) even know this?” Sotto said.

The speech of Sotto comes at the heels of what the proponents of the RH bill felt was a victory last week when a number of amendments proposed by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile were voted down by senators.

Most of the amendments introduced by Enrile, who just like Sotto is strongly against the bill, would have changed the entire complexion of the measure.

Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Pia Cayetano, the authors and sponsors of the bill, saw the voting on the Enrile amendments as an indication of how the Senate would vote on the bill when it is finally taken up for third and final reading.

Santiago said that there were at least 11 senators now who would vote in favor of the RH bill and that several more will join their ranks.

She said that she could already smell victory based on the voting on the amendments alone as her basis.

The House is also expected to vote on the bill next week and with the backing of the President, the proponents of the measure there are also confident of securing the numbers required for its approval.

Anti-RH Mass

Another opponent of the RH bill, Batangas Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, yesterday urged the faithful to attend the Mass intended to fight the measure at the St. Peter’s Church along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. – With Marvin Sy, Evelyn Macairan