SC cautioned against voiding RH Law

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. cautioned yesterday the Supreme Court (SC) against declaring the Reproductive Health (RH) Law unconstitutional, saying it would be “a veto against the will of majority of our people.”

Belmonte issued the statement amid speculations that the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law may lose in the judicial review of the high court.

“While I fully respect the integrity, impartiality and independence of the SC, we must also consider that passage of this law took 13 years and about four months,” the House leader said.

“Its enactment was realized despite pressure from religious groups and other sectors, who worked just as hard to raise their issues against the measure,” he said.

Belmonte said Congress is the constitutionally mandated branch to make laws. The judicial review falls under the SC mandate.

“I am sure that like us in the House, they have seen the public sentiment on this issue, which was also reflected in numerous surveys,” he said.

The Speaker said the arguments in the petitions against the RH Law have been given ample time to be heard, discussed and debated upon during the pendency of the measure in Congress.

“Remember that we have 289 House members, who are individuals representing a broad spectrum of society,” Belmonte said.

“They are representatives directly elected to articulate what majority of their constituents want. Therefore, the resulting law is a product of this painstaking process and is a democratic compromise,” he added.

He said he is well aware of the arguments of anti-RH proponents that led to these SC petitions.

“We must respect the desire of the majority, which is to exercise their freedom of choice,” Belmonte said.

He said that while he respects all views on the matter, including those of the religious groups, both chambers of Congress weighed all these aspects carefully in crafting the law.

“We must remember that Congress is tasked not with being judges of morality but with safeguarding the legal rights of our people,” he said. “The Constitution guarantees individuals in a democracy the legal right to choose for themselves, including how they perceive their roles as responsible parents and the methods they choose to sustain their reproductive health.”

Belmonte stressed that the RH Law is not about promoting abortion, as it clearly states that having an abortion is illegal.

“It is in fact a law that ends the paternalistic treatment of women, and is supportive of their right to choose. It is a law that may even greatly reduce, if not eradicate, the tens of thousands of illegal abortions that are going on in the country today, further endangering the lives of women and mercilessly killing their yet unborn children.”

While the Filipino people await the resolution of the SC on the issue, Belmonte said “the ball is now in their court” and whatever their decision is “would have deep and far-reaching implications for the country and its people.”

He said the SC is faced with the tough decision of whether to confirm or deny a law that went through the rigors of over 13 years of debate prior to enactment.  â€“ With Evelyn Macairan