MANILA, Philippines - After making public only last Friday his signing of the Reproductive Health bill into law on Dec. 21, President Aquino called yesterday for reconciliation with opponents of the measure, particularly the local Roman Catholic Church whose leaders vowed to continue fighting to have it trashed.
Making sex education and contraceptives more widely available to the poor, the landmark legislation takes effect in mid-January, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.
Valte said they decided to do away with a ceremonial signing to avoid further stirring emotions whipped by debates over the issue. “As far as the Communications Group is concerned, we deemed it best to wait for a couple of days before the announcement was made given the intensity of the debates that were had on this matter,” she said, referring to the Palace’s communications planning office.
“The passage into law of the Responsible Parenthood Act closes a highly divisive chapter of our history – a chapter borne of the convictions of those who argued for or against this Act,” Valte said in a statement.
“At the same time, it opens the possibility of cooperation and reconciliation... engagement and dialogue characterized not by animosity, but by our collective desire to better the welfare of the Filipino people,” she said. The enacted measure is now known as Republic Act 10354.
“We can now all go over the provisions of the law itself mainly, on what used to be contentious provisions like in the earlier version of the bill, of the law, there was the provision specifying the family size must be a certain number only – that was already taken out,” Valte said.
“We are making the copies available on the Internet and we can all go to it and look at the provisions so you will see there will be no use of force; no family planning method to be used will be forced on parents,” she said.
“So we can look at the law that the President signed. If we have doubts, we can see for ourselves the provisions of the law,” Valte said.
Healing divisions
At the House of Representatives, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the President signed the bill without fanfare so as not to further inflame passions.
“Unlike the rage and controversy which attended the congressional debates and approval of the measure, the bill was signed as Republic Act 10354 in the privacy of the President’s study room without the anticipated ceremony in order not to exacerbate the conflict with some Catholic bishops and start the reconciliation process to ensure widespread support in the implementation of the RH law,” he said.
Lagman, principal author of the law in the House of Representatives, also praised Aquino for his “consistent resolve and unwavering zeal” in pushing for reproductive health. “After a 13-year gestation, the RH bill is finally delivered, signed and sealed,” Lagman said.
“With the President’s imprimatur on the enrolled copy of the RH bill, the arduous crusade for the enactment of a comprehensive and nationwide reproductive health law is over,” he said.
An enrolled measure carries the signatures of the Senate president, the Speaker, as well as the secretaries general of the House and the Senate.
“The principal beneficiaries of the RH law are the country’s millions of women and children whose health will be protected and promoted as maternal and infant deaths radically decline as a result of voluntary family planning and contraception by choice,” Lagman said.
“Women worldwide who have been anticipating the enactment of an RH law in the Philippines rejoice with the vast majority of Filipinos in celebrating the elevation of the bill into a statute,” he said.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. earlier vowed to reach out to Catholic bishops and other groups opposed to the new law.
“I don’t see any lasting acrimony between us and the Church. None at all,” he earlier told reporters.
He said he remained in good terms with the clergy even after the Quezon City council passed its own version of the RH law when he was still mayor.
“I look forward to better (relations with the bishops) without this issue around. I think of no reason why they cannot attain very good relationships between the President and the hierarchy of the Church,” the Speaker said.
Belmonte also expressed optimism that re-electionist congressmen who voted for the bill would win in the May 2013 polls despite their loss of support from the Catholic Church.
“Well, to tell you frankly, some people, you cannot really say that this (vote against RH Bill) is really because of fear of the Church, because there are several people who voted anti who have no opponents, who are virtually elected already,” he said.
“Outside of that, I think the vast majority of the remaining (lawmakers) are sure to get re-elected on the basis of their record, on the basis of the situation locally and nationally,” he added.
Both chambers of Congress passed the final version of the measure on Dec. 19 after an acrimonious debate pitting politicians, non-government organizations and women’s groups against the Roman Catholic Church and its lay organizations.
Officials said the new law seeks to give couples the tools and information needed to plan the size of their families, as well as help moderate the nation’s rapid population growth, reduce poverty and bring down its high maternal mortality rate.
Church leaders have vowed to continue fighting to stop the implementation of the measure and urged the faithful to reject politicians who backed the law. Groups allied with the Church are expected to challenge the law in the Supreme Court.
The Philippines has one of Asia’s highest birth rates, with the United Nations estimating that half of the country’s 3.4 million pregnancies each year are unplanned.
Officials said maternal mortality remains high, with 162 deaths for every 100,000 live births, while 10 women die every day from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications.
‘Shameful’
For retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, President Aquino’s unannounced signing of the RH bill showed the latter was “also ashamed of what he did.”
Another prelate said Aquino planted a “moral time bomb” when he signed the measure.
“I cannot understand why. If that law is really very good and it will be for the welfare of the people, why would he sign it without the people knowing it?” Cruz said.
“They know that what they did is unacceptable, they made the people fight so maybe they are ashamed of what they did,” he said.
He said many politicians “do not think of what is right or wrong but are concerned only with where the money is and where the power lies.”
He said “pro-life” groups are regrouping to block the implementation of the measure. “The fight is not yet over,” he said.
“This administration is shameful because it appears there is no more distinction between what is right and wrong but pushes only what it wants regardless of the Filipinos’ culture, traits, and others,” he said.
“Indeed, President Aquino would be known as the RH President, which is not a title of honor. His conscience will be bothering him day and night because he has planted a moral time bomb in our Catholic country,” said Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes. “ – With Paolo Romero, Evelyn Macairan, Eva Visperas