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Date Posted: 19:44:53 12/11/12 Tue
Author: IMRD
Subject: Dec. 12, 2012

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/12/12/rh-not-first-bill-church-blocked/

RH not first bill Church Blocked
By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on Dec. 12, 2012 at 12:01am | 331 views
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Senator Joker Arroyo said on Tuesday that the controversial Reproductive Health bill was the third fight involving the Catholic Church over measures introduced in the legislature.
He said the first controversy arose in 1938 when the Philippines was a Commonwealth government under the United States. He said the unicameral National Assembly, which served as the country’s legislature at that time, enacted a measure on religious instruction in public schools.
He recalled that President Manuel Luis Quezon blew his top and vetoed the bill.
His action sparked a debate between the government and the Catholic Church.
Arroyo said the general public joined in the debates zeroing in on the separation of the Church and the state. The National Assembly, however, did not meet to override the presidential veto, which dealt a blow to the Church’s protest.
Eighteen years later, in 1956, during the presidency of Ramon Magsaysay, Arroyo narrated that the late Senator Claro M. Recto, supported by Senator Jose P. Laurel, introduced a measure in the Senate which required students to read Jose Rizal’s novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
The Catholic Church opposed the measure and the controversy became heated and was talked about by the entire country,
The Church insisted that some passages in Rizal’s novel were derogatory of the Church and to make it required reading was unfair.
After weeks of heated debates, Arroyo said a compromise was reached. The two sides agreed that the unexpurgated version of the Noli and Fili which contained passages against the Church would not be required reading in elementary and secondary schools. The original text, however, would be taught in the college level.
“Now comes the RH bill, the third one after 56 years. It is just as heated and acrimonious as the religious instruction and the Noli-Fili bills. But the period of debates in the RH bill is a lot longer,” he said.
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/12/12/house-sets-stage-for-rh-showdown/

House sets stage for RH showdown
By Christine F. Herrera | Posted on Dec. 12, 2012 at 12:02am | 606 views
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Church allies call for ‘people power’ on crucial voting today
On the eve of today’s crucial vote in the House of Representatives, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines urged lawmakers to “obey God rather than men” and reject the reproductive health bill when it goes for a vote on second reading.
“Our society needs law to unite rather than divide,” said Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, who heads the CBCP. “Amidst the many voices trying to influence the outcome of your deliberations, I call upon you in the words our Lord first said to Abraham, ‘Do not be afraid!’ Listen to what God is saying: ‘Obey God rather than men.’”

Tight watch. Cardinal Ricardo Vidal (third from left) heads a group of church officials watching the continuation of the deliberations on the Reproductive Health bill, which the Catholic Church condemns, at the House of Representatives. With him are, from left, Archbishop Aniceto Pampanga, Archbishop Carmelo Morillos, Bishop Antonio Ranola, and Bishop Antonio Tobias. Ver S. Noven
Palma’s exhortation comes amid a massive push by the Catholic Church to stop the RH bill.
In an interview with the Church-run Radio Veritas, anti-RH advocates Eric Manalang and Aurora Santiago called for “people power,” urging the faithful to troop to the Batasan complex to pressure lawmakers into defeating the bill.
The anti-RH supporters were expected to gather for a Mass at St. Peter Parish Shrine along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City before proceeding to the Batasan complex, said Melvin Castro, the priest who heads the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Family and Life.
He said supporters and members of several Church-backed organizations would also gather outside Congress to pray for the bill’s rejection.
Among these will be devotees of the Black Nazarene, who will be bused in from Quiapo Church, said Msgr. Clemente Ignacio.
Bishops also urged the faithful to unite in prayer against the passage of the RH bill.
A day ahead of the key vote, more than 100,000 doctors and nurses from the Philippines Medical Association and other health-care groups signed a manifesto supporting the RH bill. They were joined by members of the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, the Philippines Society of Newborn Medicine and 167,000-strong Integrated Midwives Association of the Philippines.
Former Health secretaries Alberto Romualdez and Esperanza Cabral also signed, as did former PMA president Santiago del Rosario.
The doctors, nurses and health care providers said that while the Philippines seems to be closing in on most of its Millennium Development Goals, it will miss its targets for two most vulnerable groups—mothers and newborns.
“Each year, an estimated 4,000 mothers and 40,000 newborns die, mostly amongst the poor urban and rural communities,” the manifesto said. The RH bill, they said, could help reduce these deaths.
Some 50 professors from various colleges in the University of the Philippines and 57 student councils nationwide also urged Congress to ensure the passage of the RH bill.
Professor and former UP president Francisco Nemenzo and lawyer Harry Roque, associate professor of law in the UP College of Law, led the other UP professors in signing the manifesto for the RH bill.
“We have a very short window of time for the passage of the RH bill. And from now until recess, this whole December, we will stand watch, we will be in the gallery, reminding our legislators that it is not the false imitation of the voice of God, but the genuine voice of the people they must heed,” said UP School of Economics professor Ernesto Pernia.
On Tuesday, both supporters and critics of the RH bill in the House claimed victory as they agreed to vote on the measure today, even if they fail to tackle all proposed amendments.
Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who opposes the bill, claimed his side had at least 148 lawmakers to vote down the bill, a claim that pro-RH congressmen quickly disputed.
“We are sure of our numbers and we are sure of winning, [with] at least 148 lawmakers already committed to oppose the passage of the bill based on last Monday meeting with the Catholic bishops, against 120 lawmakers supporting the bill,” Rodriguez said.
But House Assistant Majority Leader Sherwin Tugna and Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III dismissed Rodriguez’s statement as mere psychological warfare.
“That’s a mere psywar. If the anti-RH lawmakers have enough support, they should have sought the immediate vote to kill the proposal without any delay. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the victory day of our group pushing the RH measure,” Tugna said.
Tañada also assured the public that pro-RH lawmakers will emerge victorious in today’s voting, stressing that their group has been for responsible parenthood to address the widespread poverty in the country.
“We are pretty much sure that we can pass the measure on second reading. Based on the voting pattern last week, we successfully rejected all the killer amendments pushed by critics on the RH bill,” Tañada said.
As of Tuesday, the House was still on page 5 of the 27-page bill.
House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II said that the principal author of the measure, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, could move to terminate the period of amendments to the RH bill, even if they have not finished discussing every page of the substitute bill, which was approved last week in an effort to win over some RH critics.
The compromise bill is an offshoot of consultations with some of the anti-RH lawmakers.
House members have agreed to put the bill to a vote today, whether or not they finish deliberating on its amendments.
Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, the principal author of the bill, said they would push through with voting Wednesday, despite the slow pace of amendments.
“Tomorrow, [it’s] ‘finished or not finished, pass your paper’, and pass the RH bill on second reading,” Lagman told his fellow legislators.
He has earlier said that the bishops were welcome to watch their discussions but warned the church not to treat lawmakers “like docile sheep to be watched and shepherded.” With Maricel V. Cruz and Vito Barcelo

http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/8043-no-compromise-no-rh-bill-says-arroyo

No compromise, no RH bill, says Arroyo
• Written by By Gerry Baldo and Angie M. Rosales
• Wednesday, 12 December 2012 00:00
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Unless the Catholic Church and legislature come up with a compromise, the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill will have a hard time being approved in Congress.
Sen. Joker Arroyo issued the assessment yesterday after Church leaders stepped up their pressure on members of the House to junk the bill through their presence at the House deliberations which they said was meant to counter Palace arm-twisting to have the measure passed.
The pressure from both the Church and the Palace which are both on the opposite ends of the RH bill debates has heightened as the bill entered the crucial stage of plenary vote.
The senator made the assertion even if colleagues have already decided to expedite deliberations on the bill and have it approved before Congress’ Christmas break, citing experience in the past where the Catholic
Church and Congress went on a head-on collision over some measures introduced in the legislature.
The RH bill will be the third “fight” between the two institutions, Arroyo noted, the first of which arose in 1938 when the Philippines was still a Commonwealth under the United States.
The unicameral National Assembly, the legislature then, enacted a measure on the religious instruction in public schools.
“President Manuel L. Quezon, blew his top, and vetoed the bill. A heated debate between Quezon and the Church followed. The general public joined the debate zeroing in on the separation of church and state. The National Assembly did not meet to override the presidential veto,” he said.
“Eighteen years after in 1956 during the presidency of Ramon Magsaysay, Sen. Claro M. Recto, supported by Sen. Jose P. Laurel, introduced a measure in the Senate for the required reading of the Noli (Me Tangere) and (El) Fili (Filibusterismo), Rizal’s books, in all the schools. The Catholic Church opposed it and the controversy was heated and nationwide. The Church insisted that some passages in Rizal’s novels were derogatory of the Church and to make it required reading is unfair,” he said.
It was only when a compromise was reached paved for the end of weeks of heated debates, Arroyo said.
“Among others, the unexpurgated version of Noli and Fili which contain critical essays against the Church will not be required reading in the elementary and secondary schools. The original text will be taught in the college level,” he said.
“Looking back at the first two controversies, it looks like the Church lost in the religious instruction bill in 1938. It was a tie on the Noli-Fili controversy,” he added.
“Now comes the RH bill, the third one after 56 years. It is just as heated and acrimonious as the religious instruction and the Noli-Fili bills. But the period of debates in the RH bill is a lot lot longer. It’s some wonder why the RH bill cannot be resolved amicably by the contending parties like the Noli-Fili,” he said.
An administration lawmaker, meanwhile, decried the extreme pressure being exerted by Malacañang on lawmakers to vote in favor of the reproductive health bill.
According to the lawmaker, Malacañang has tightened its grip on the members of the ruling coalition particularly the members of the Liberal Party by dangling the “pork barrel” or the priority development assistance fund.
“They have been told not to come if they are going to vote against the reproductive health bill,” the lawmaker, who refused to be identified for fear of reprisals, said yesterday.
The lawmaker, who has been with the Liberal party for years, said that lawmakers have been bombarded with text messages to vote for the RH-Bill or be absent from the plenary hall during the scheduled Wednesday voting on the controversial bill which has been vehemently opposed by the Catholic Church for its alleged provisions that would promote promiscuity and abortion.
This developed as Bishop Gabriel Reyes, CBCP Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, called on life and family advocates to gear up for Wednesday’s voting starting with a noontime Holy Mass at the St. Peter’s Parish Shrine of Leaders on Commonwealth Avenue.
“Let us come together to offer our continued prayers for the non-passage of the RH bill through the celebration of the Holy Eucharist with some bishops on December 12, 2012, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” Bishop Reyes said yesterday in a statement via the CBCP News.
Reyes noted that most of the amendments that are being introduced by pro-life lawmakers have being turned down by the House.
He said that included in those amendments that have been rejected are those that would ensure government’s respect for the people’s religious freedom, assistance for pregnant women and their unborn babies by way of referrals to adoption centers, deletion of a clause that showed discrimination against the poor, ensuring the voluntary requirement as far as beneficiaries of RH services are concerned, and confining free birth control supplies and services to married couples.
Fr. Melvin Castro, ECFL executive secretary, said that aside from hundreds of life and family advocates who will be making the trip to St. Peter Parish on Wednesday, some pro-life legislators are also expected to attend the noontime Mass.
“In a way it’s also a blessing and prayer to them before they go to Congress to vote,” Castro was quoted as saying.
Reyes also said that a procession going to the House of Representatives together with the Bishops will follow immediately after the mass on Wednesday.
In addition to the growing number of religious personalities led by the Catholic Church that fill the House gallery every day that the reproductive health bill is being discussed, Filipino boxing icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, is expected to arrive late Tuesday night from the United States, who is also expected to rally his colleagues into voting against the controversial bill.
According to Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing, Pacquiao has been one of the staunchest anti-RH lawmakers who could add to the growing number of lawmakers that are expected to vote against the bill.
According to House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte he will push to put the bill into a vote today (Wednesday), the feast Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the unborn.
This developed as Archibishop Jose Palma of Cebu, CBCP president, told lawmakers to pray through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe that they may be guided by the Holy Spirit in this “difficult and trying days.”
“Our society needs law to unite rather than divide. We need law to affirm and protect the truth about the dignity of the human person, who has been created in the very image of God; the sanctity of the family, the basic social unit which even our Constitution recognizes as the foundation of the nation; and the inviolability of the social institution of marriage, which the Constitution likewise recognizes as the foundation of the family,” Palma said in his message to the lawmakers.
Palma’s message came after some 90 members of the Liberal party met at the house of Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas in Cubao, Quezon City to agree on a party stand in favor of the RH bill.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines called on members of the House of Representatives who are against the reproductive health bill to “Be not afraid.”
According to CBCP president ArchbishopPalma, the lawmakers should not be afraid in fighting for what is right and moral amidst pressure from those pushing the population control measure.
The CBCP head also appealed to lawmakers to stand by the truth and not by their political parties as they vote on the controversial measure on Wednesday.
The archbishop of Cebu said no less than Pope Benedict XVI has already appealed to legislators on how to handle measures concerning basic human rights.
Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay, a vocal critic against the measure, said the presence of the bishops is a boost to anti-RH bill lawmakers.
She said that while they are threatened by Malacañang to withhold their congressional pork barrel allocations, the presence of church leaders would somehow compensate it.
“Our problem here is that we are up against a very powerful bloc… the party that provides funding for most of politicians in the country,” Magsaysay said.
“If the CBCP comes in full force, we are more motivated because we see that the Church is behind us as it will give us the necessary boost to vote with conviction,” she said.
Meanwhile, Lipa City Bishop Ramon Arguelles had clarified that they are not harassing pro RH Bill congressmen when he attended the hearing on the RH bill the house Monday.
He said the bishops’ presence was mean to give support for the anti RH Bill lawmakers who is pro life and lashed back at the statement made by proponent of RH Bill whom he called demons. “You should not sell your soul to the devil “ Arguelles said. Pat C. Santos

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2012/12/12/884995/house-may-vote-rh-bill-today

House may vote on RH bill today
By Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star) | Updated December 12, 2012 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives will try to force a vote today on the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill.
Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II told reporters yesterday that he would call the bill for voting on second reading tonight in accordance with an agreement Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. had with anti-RH members.
“They have agreed to the schedule, so whether they are finished or not with presenting their proposed amendments, we will have to close the period for amendments. Then we proceed to vote,” Gonzales said.
He said that as part of the agreement, those against the bill would no longer resort to delaying tactics such as availing of their right to call for a tedious nominal or individual voting every time the measure’s sponsor, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, rejects any of their proposed amendment.
“We agreed that we would decide on their proposals via viva voce or voice vote. No nominal voting or voting by tellers or standing,” he added.
He pointed out that the call of Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia on Monday night for voting by standing was not part of the agreement.
Gonzales accused the anti-RH bloc of delaying the proceedings “so that when we vote on the bill, they would accuse us of railroading it.”
“There’s a lot of interplay. It’s as if we didn’t agree on something. You will do as you must, we’ll do as we must. What is going to happen tomorrow is that they would say, sige sagasaan n’yo na kami (run us over), make it appear na sinasagasaan nga namin, magsisigawan na sinagasaan nga sila (that we railroaded it), that they were not given the opportunity,” he said, adding that he expects the anti-RH bloc to ask for more time to present their amendments.
“They can say that we can’t do it and we need another week. If we allow another week, we’re fooling each other,” he said.
Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, a staunch critic of the proposed RH law, confirmed today’s scheduled vote.
“Yes, it’s pass your paper, finished or not finished. But we will win the vote. We have about 140 voting against the bill, while they have 120,” he said.
Another anti-RH member, Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, said the House is evenly split, 100-100, with 40 to 50 members still undecided.
“The 40 to 50 are the swing votes. They are the ones vulnerable to lobbying and threats by priests and bishops, who are always in the gallery,” Suarez said.
A third critic of the RH bill, Pangasinan Rep. Gina de Venecia, said she is arriving from Bali, Indonesia, where she was to speak before the Second World Ecological Safety, in time for tonight’s voting.
Lagman said it would be the lookout of those against the bill if they would not be able to present all of their proposed amendments.
“Dilatory tactics and repetitive amendments would foreclose their articulating for the record all of their proposals,” he said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/322525/bishops-gird-for-rh-bill-battle

Bishops gird for RH bill battle
Church calls for prayer power; Tagle leads vigil
By Christian V. Esguerra, Leila B. Salaverria, Philip C. Tubeza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
12:10 am | Wednesday, December 12th, 2012

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle. AP FILE PHOTO
Storming the heavens with prayers, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle on Tuesday urged the Catholic faithful to attend an overnight vigil in Makati City for the defeat of the reproductive health (RH) bill.
Tagle called on the faithful to gather at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Makati City starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday as Congress convenes Wednesday to vote on the RH bill, which seeks to provide people with information on reproductive health matters and access to contraceptives.
“The overnight vigil continues (Wednesday), with Masses at 6 a.m., 8 a.m, 12 noon, 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Cardinal Tagle will celebrate the Mass at the Shrine at 12 noon,” said a statement from the Archdiocese of Manila.
In a letter to lawmakers, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), also invoked Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Catholic prolife movement.
“As you resume your deliberations on the reproductive health bill, I pray that through the gracious intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose feast day we celebrate today, you may be bountifully guided by the Holy Spirit,” Palma said.
“Recalling Our Lady’s words when she first spoke to the Indian peasant St. Juan Diego on that cold December day on Tepeyac hill in Mexico 481 years ago, I am confident she will grant us the fruit of her affection and protection if we ask for it. In these difficult and trying days, we humbly ask for it,” he added.
LP meeting
The bill on Tuesday inched closer to getting passed on second reading following separate meetings by President Aquino’s Liberal Party (LP) and coalition partner, Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), on the eve of the crucial vote in the House of Representatives.
That was the reading of Tarlac Rep. Kimi Cojuangco of the NPC and Rep. Teddy Baguilat Jr. of the LP, who attended the meetings separately at the Batasang Pambansa and the LP’s Balay headquarters in Quezon City before the afternoon session.
Spearheading the meeting at the LP headquarters were Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.
“Because we are supportive of the President, a ‘yes’ vote is a vote for the President,” Cojuangco told reporters. “A lot toed the line.”

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