RH bills to go to the last inch

CONGRESSMEN opposing the reproductive health bill yesterday tried to derail the first committee hearing on the controversial measure by questioning the jurisdiction of the House committee on population and family relations chaired by Biliran Rep. Rogelio Espina.

Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia asked why the measure was not referred to the committee on health when the principal subject matter is reproductive health and "there can be no negation of that statement."

"Why is it in the committee on population? This referral is pre-meditated to change the real intention of the bill," he said, noting that the implementing agencies of the RH are the Department of Health and the Population Commission which is also under the Department of Health.

Garcia said the House Bill 96 of minority leader Edcel Lagman was tailored to justify the bill’s referral to the Espina panel instead of the health committee "where the bill truly belongs."


"Perhaps it is because they thought that the population issue is more defensible or less difficult to defend. The health provisions of the bill are not easy to defend, because even the World Health Organization classifies the contraceptives are carcinogenic. Why should we now say that this is principally a population bill rather than a reproductive health bill?" he said.

Lagman, principal advocate of the measure, said it was the committee on rules which decided to refer the RH bills to the population committee which has the "sole and exclusive" jurisdiction on the measures.

It is very obvious, he said, that those questioning the panel’s jurisdiction are the ones against the use of contraceptives like condoms as a family planning methods.

"This bill aim to ensure that people can choose free and responsible family planning suited to their needs and personal conviction which is a basic human right," he said.

Lagman said his bill’s aim is to provide married couples the right to sustainable development and to lower the incidents of abortion.

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, another anti-RH lawmaker, said the issue should have been referred jointly to the committees on health and on poverty alleviation because this concerns basic obstetric care, health care service, early child mortality, teenage pregnancy, maternal health, the prevention of HIV-AIDS and others.

"These are health issues, not a population issue," he said.

Espina said the committee will have to ask for the guidance of the committee on rules chaired by majority leader Neptali Gonzales II.

He said, however, that in the course if the hearings, the committee we will be briefed by experts from the DOH and other resource persons "who can provide us with information of what is healthy and safe."

The Church, through the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, is strongly opposing the passage of an RH bill. The pending bills allow the use of artificial contraceptives like condoms and pills. The Church wants couples to use only the natural family planning method.

Opposing sides were face-to-face during the hearing which began at about 9:30 in the morning at the Andaya Hall of the Batasan Complex.

Anti-RH groups from Pro-Life Philippines and the Apostolate for Family Consecration/Family Land Television Network wore pins with the words "I love life" while some of them prayed the rosary during the hearing.

Former Manila mayor Lito Atienza was with the anti-RH groups along with Fr. Eric Genilo of the Institute for Church and Social Issues.

Members of the Apostles of Mary, Catholic Youth League of the Philippines, Legion of Mary, and Knights of Our Lady also attended the hearing carrying an image of St. Joseph, who they said is the patron of the universal Church and protector of the family.

The Church expressed willingness to initiate a new survey on the RH bill, despite numerous surveys showing overwhelming approval for an RH measure.

Bishop emeritus Teodoro Bacani said he sees no problem if CBCP members conduct surveys in their dioceses.

"Ako nga, sabi ko sa inyo, nasubukan ko na. Hindi lang 80 percent, kundi 100 percent ang pagtutol (sa RH bill)," Bacani said.

He said his personal poll is different from the ones being conducted by survey firms because his thoroughly explained the contents of the RH bill.

"Kasi sa survey, gusto niyo ba family planning? Sino naman hindi sasagot ng oo dun. Pero kung paliwanagan mo, gusto niyo ba ang gagawin na pagtulong sa inyo nakakapagpalaglag ng laman ng inyong sinapupunan? Hindi kasi pinapaliwanag yun sa ginagawang survey kaya dapat linawin kung ano talaga ang kahulugan ng bill," he said.

A January survey of the Social Weather Stations showed that almost seven out of 10 or 68 percent of respondents favor giving couples access to all legal means of family planning.

An October 2008 Pulse Asia survey showed 82 percent of the respondents think that the government should not only educate couples regarding modern methods of family planning but also provide them with services and materials on these methods.

Economist Dr. Bernardo Villegas, a leading light of the Opus Dei movement, and George von Winternitz, an expert on demography, asked lawmakers to junk the RH bill.

Villegas, citing studies, said economic development or the state of poverty has been shown to have no correlation with overpopulation.

He said these studies were been conducted over 118 countries in a span of 30 years.

"There are many countries with higher population densities than the Philippines, yet they are richer than our country. There are also many more countries with lower population densities than the Philippines, and yet they are poorer than us," Villegas said.

"It only means that population control is not really the answer to economic growth. Poverty is often caused by poor organization and incompetent and corrupt governments, not by too many people," he added.

He also cited a study from the World Bank that showed that the economic success of eight East Asian countries, excluding the Philippines, was attributed to political stability, macroeconomic stability, focus on early education, accent on agricultural development, sound financial system, openness to foreign ideas and technology, and market-oriented economic policies.

"No mention of birth control," he said.

Villegas also said poverty in the Philippines is a product of corruption, neglect of export promotion, underdeveloped agricultural and infrastructure sectors, as well as lack of quality education.

"Time and again, we have been told by international agencies, both public and private, that P200 billion is being lost to corruption every year. About half of this is due to those who cheat the government by not paying their taxes," he said.

On the morality issue, Villegas agreed with the Church that the RH bill contradicts the Constitution and the divine and natural law; that the individual right of women to space their children as they deem appropriate is subject to the right to life for everyone, from conception to natural death; and that artificial contraceptives, some of which are abortifacients, have adverse side effects on health.

Winternitz said an increase in birth rate is not a problem.

"It would create balance in the continuous economic activity in the country. If we have less people in the future, the demands for products and services decrease," he said.

"Besides a high birth rate would increase the country’s workforce in the future…A healthy economy relies on a healthy proportion of working people," he added.

According to Winternitz, overpopulation is not really a product of bearing so many children, but of a decrease in the death rate.

He said older people live longer nowadays because of improvements in medicine.

Winternitz said an RH law would just pave the way for a decrease in the number of babies that would eventually be added to the number of working population. – With Gerard Naval and Angela Lopez de Leon