It’s time RH Bill supporters quit pressuring President Aquino to back the RH Bill more strongly.
For one thing, having a strong back isn’t an attribute our P-noy is known to possess.
Another, the President has already spoken. With all his bosses watching his State of the Nation Address, when his words would have carried the most weight with the assemblage of Filipiniana-clad legislators — the grand majority ostensibly allies of his — our P-noy opted to play coy and cryptic. As he recited a litany of ills that continue to plague the Philippine educational system, he wistfully slips in that responsible parenthood will help de-congest classrooms. The mere utterance of what seems to be a euphemism for Reproductive Health earns him his loudest and longest applause that day, but the effusive reception fails to galvanize him into elaboration. He just leaves the mention there like a cheap Greeting Card addressed to no one.
Th-th-th-that’s all, folks.
Another exercise in futility is railing at the CBCP’s vociferous opposition to the RH Bill. It just shows that — unlike P-noy — it does have a spine (which certainly won’t get all twisted by a million tweets of “If you don’t play the game, then don’t make the rules). Understand that if the Catholic Church were to surrender its dogma, it would go into an existential tailspin. It’s an industry that was built on the belief in the Immaculate Conception, a premise guaranteed to bamboozle any “When does Life begin” debate from the get-go. In other words, there’s a reason that when the Church exhorts people to take a particular action, it makes a Call to the Faithful instead of, say, the Sensible, or Halfway-Intelligent.
That’s why, mere days away from when the RH Bill finally goes to the plenary, its advocates should refocus their energies on where they’ll count most. The Real Players: the District Reps.
Challenge... Nag...Engage...Threaten.
Don’t bother showing them statistics to prove that there’s no such thing as a Catholic vote.
Instead, apprise your Representatives of the consequences if they vote AGAINST the RH Bill..
Tell your Representative: Even if you favor armed revolution, come from a political dynasty, or did a lousy job as prosecutor in the Corona impeachment trial, because you voted FOR the RH Bill, I MAY still vote for you in the next election.
On the other hand, tell your Representative that if he/she votes AGAINST RH Bill (abstentions and absences count as well), the fight will not end today, August 7.
There is no redemption. Regardless of the vote’s outcome, despite the number of trees he/she planted, or how useful the parenting tips he/she dispensed on a morning talk show, or how he/she voted/votes on other bills of some importance, you will not only NOT vote for him/her in 2013; you will devote all waking hours to demolishing his/her candidacy.
If not applicable, you will actively campaign against his/her relatives up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and affinity, and/or the fake Party List they’re nominees for. The whole lot of them may as well walk around for the rest of their lives wearing a Scarlet Letter on their foreheads — A for Anti-RH, principally. But also A for Antediluvian, A for Anti-Poor, A-for Anti-Woman, A for Anti-Filipino, and A for A**hole of the highest order.
Tell your Representative: I’m sorry, but if you don’t vote for the vote for the RH Bill, that’s a dealbreaker.
These are the Congressional Representatives who’ve taken public stands FOR the RH Bill: Janette Garin (1st district, Iloilo); House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte (4th district, Quezon City); Teodoro Baguilat Jr. (Ifugao); Bernardo Vergara (Baguio City); Luzviminda Ilagan (Gabriela partylist); Arthur Defensor Jr. (3rd district, Iloilo); Fejenel Biron (4th district, Iloilo); Neil Tupas Jr. (5th district, Iloilo); Jerry Treñas (Iloilo City); Neptali Gonzales II (Mandaluyong City); Edcel Lagman (1st district, Albay); Rodolfo Biazon (Muntinlupa City); Augusto Syjuco Jr. (2nd district, Iloilo); Arlene Bag-ao (Akbayan partylist); Walden Bello (Akbayan partylist); Marl-Len Abigail Binay (2nd district, Makati City); Emmi De Jesus (Gabriela partylist); Tomas Osmeña (2nd district, Cebu City); Danilo Suarez (3rd district, Quezon); Salvador Escudero (1st district, Sorsogon); Rogelio Espina (Biliran); Kimi Cojuangco (5th district, Pangasinan).
Congressional Representatives whose names do not appear on this list are either against the RH Bill, or fence-sitters.
Go, all those who love freedom, democracy, and our country (not necessarily in that order). Guided only by legal laws and your own moral code, do your worst.