Nene takes up cudgels for Pro-Life Groups vs. Reproductive Health Bill

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. exhorted civil society and the Catholic Church to mobilize against the imminent passage of the controversial Reproductive Health Bill (Senate Bill No. 3122).

"You have to go to the Senate and the Lower House to show your numbers and visit your representatives in their respective offices," Pimentel said during the August 14 dinner forum at the VIP Hotel hosted by ServeLife Cagayan de Oro dubbed "Charter Change, The Reproductive Health Bill, A Controversial Legislation Affecting the Nation."

In an hour-long presentation, Pimentel presented his strategy to amend controversial provisions of the bill which Pro-Life Groups say are anti-life and infringe on the human rights of the unborn child; undermine the inviolability of marriage, weaken family solidarity and destroy the family as the foundation of the nation; and adopt values foreign to Philippine culture.

"Our first option is to defeat the bill outright," the former mayor of Cagayan de Oro said. "If it doesn´t pass either the Senate or the Lower House, that´s the end of it."

However, in the unlikely event that option would prove untenable, Pimentel said the next option is to amend it while it is still being deliberated upon in Congress.

To do this, Pimentel said he has based his argumentations on the obviously illegal and unconstitutional provisions of the bill. By focusing on these areas, Pimentel said its proponents would be constrained to directly face and address the issues instead of merely deflecting them as dogmatic issues citing the separation of church and state.

Among the provisions of the constitution and other existing laws which the bill runs counter to are Article II, Section 12 of the Philippine Constitution; Article 40 of the Philippine Civil Code; Presidential Decree 603 (4), a martial law edict; and the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (1990).

He also lambasted the bill´s extensive use of the term "Gender" in lieu of "Sex" which creates an "unnatural distinction between women and men" since the term becomes subjective to the choice of the person concerned, instead of objective in the case of sex which is "mainly manifested in genital organs biologically ordained by nature."

Before the bill could be signed into law, Pimentel said civil society and the religious sector should band together to inform the general public and society about the implications on the values, religious and morality of the nation as a people. He encouraged Pro-Life and other groups opposed to the RH Bill to use his presentation and pamphlet detailing the controversial provisions of the bill and proposed amendments as a way to properly inform and mobilize the people against the bill.

For his part, Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, S.J. lauded local government leaders for supporting their stance against the RH Bill and adopting natural family planning (RFP) as their first priority in addressing population issues.

In a statement read by Fr. Nathan Lerio, head of the Archdiocese Good Governance Apostolate (AGGAp), Ledesma cited Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno, Camiguin Gov. Jurdin Romualdo and Cagayan de Oro Mayor Constantino Jaraula for promoting NFP.

"It is in this light that I fervently hope that the joint efforts of the provinces of Misamis Oriental and Camiguin, the city of Cagayan de Oro, and the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro can operationalize a viable model for NFP promotion for the entire country," Ledesma said.

He cited the book "Natural Family Planning: Values, Issues and Practices" recently published by the archdiocese as a valuable resource for LGUs and other groups wanting to adopt NFP to address population issues.]

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