House panel approves RH bill for plenary debates

Years after the first reproductive health (RH) bill was filed in Congress in 1998, the House plenary will finally deliberate on the much-debated bill in the coming months after the House Committee on Population and Family Relations unanimously approved a consolidated version of the measure on Monday. The measure, entitled “An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development," was unanimously approved by the House panel in a meeting on Monday afternoon. Biliran Rep. Rogelio Espina Jr., chairman of the House panel, said the consolidated bill gives Filipinos “the right to choose" between natural and artificial methods of contraception. “For me, this bill gives the people the right to choose, with of course respect for the beliefs of some religious sectors and the need of the people," he told reporters on Monday. The committee consolidated the bills filed by House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman, Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, Akbayan party-list Reps. Arlene Bag-ao and Walden Bello, Muntinlupa City Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco Jr. and Gabriela party-list Reps. Luzviminda Ilagan and Emerenciana de Jesus. The panel will prepare a report on its approval of the consolidated measure that will be submitted to the House Committees on Rules and Appropriations for comment. The measure will then be presented in the plenary, where lawmakers will discuss and vote on the measure on the floor. After the chamber approves the measure, it will submit the bill to the Senate for consideration. The Senate can either pass its own version of the bill or adopt the bill passed by the House. After this, the bicameral conference committee will be convened to reconcile the respective versions of the House and Senate. Once the bicameral committee approves the bill, it will be returned to the House and Senate for approval on third reading. It will then be submitted to Malacañang for the signature of the President. Highly-debated issue The RH bill has been highly debated by pro-life and pro-choice groups. The Catholic Church promotes only natural family planning and is opposed to the use of artificial birth control methods such as condoms and birth-control pills, saying these could lead to promiscuity and a rise in abortion cases. However, RH advocates say natural family planning methods have not proven to be as reliable as artificial means of birth control. Several versions of the RH bill have been filed in previous congresses. In the present Congress, the RH bill is known as "Bill 96" whose main proponent is Minority Leader Edcel Lagman of Albay. The RH is based on the premise that the country's population growth impedes economic development and exacerbates poverty. The bill seeks to guarantee "universal access to medically-safe, legal, affordable and quality reproductive health care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant information." However, Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra said in December last year that according to Catholic teachings, any action that directly or indirectly destroys and kills life is against the Fifth Commandment ("Thou shall not kill") and is thus immoral. He said the orientation of the RH bill is towards: