Aquino asks House allies to vote on RH bill

Published December 3, 2012 2:04pm

(Updated 3:32 p.m.) Despite staunch opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, President Benigno Aquino III on Monday asked his allies at the House of Representatives to vote on the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill. The President made this appeal in a speech he delivered during a private luncheon he hosted in Malacañang for members of the House majority. Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello, an author of the RH bill, said about 170 lawmakers were present during the lunch. “PNoy said we should vote on the measure rather than postpone a decision on an issue that has divided the country,” Bello said in a text message. The lawmaker added that although Aquino “did not tell people how to vote,” he said “he would vote for the bill” if he was an incumbent congressman. “He (Aquino) said he will vote for the bill because that would be the only way he could face his constituents with the feeling that he was doing something good,” Bello said.

Vote within the week

Asked if the House will immediately proceed with a vote on the RH bill after Aquino’s directive, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. just said, “Remember, period of amendments pa tayo.”

Meanwhile, Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat, LP deputy spokesperson, said the President categorically stated during his meeting with House members from the ruling party that the RH bill should be voted upon within the week.

“He [Aquino] said it [the RH bill] should be voted on second and third reading this week because this will give time for the Senate to discuss the bill that we will transmit to the upper house,” Baguilat said in a separate text message.

The congressman further quoted Aquino as saying that further delay to the RH bill vote will actually “kill” the measure, since the Senate and the House “will not have enough time to discuss and decide on the bill given that campaign season is upon us.”

“PNoy made his personal stand and appeal to us personally. It’s up to the party and to all whether to be guided by that or to be scared,” Baguilat said.

Aquino’s directive, however, failed to deter House members opposing the RH bill to employ parliamentary tactics to delay discussions on the measure. Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, for instance, already expressed his intention to deliver a privilege speech during Monday’s session.

“I would be delivering a privileged speech on the People’s Republic of China’s directive to its border patrol police to board and expel foreign ships entering the West Philippine Sea,” Rodriguez said in a letter sent to the Speaker’s office on Monday.

In a separate letter, Rodriguez also asked to “be recognized once the substitute bill for the RH bill is called” so that he can propose individual amendments to the measure.

Bello, for his part, quoted the President as saying that “constructive amendments were welcome, but not killer amendments.”

Aquino’s directive came amid a renewed campaign from some officials of the Roman Catholic Church against the RH bill. Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes, who chairs the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)’s Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, even appealed for prayers and fasting among Roman Catholics as “weapons” against the measure’s passage. The RH bill, one of Aquino’s priority legislations, promotes both natural and artificial means of family planning. The Roman Catholic Church, which encourages only natural means of birth control, opposes the measure. Before the private luncheon, Aquino also met with lawmakers aligned with the ruling Liberal Party (LP) to hear their views on the RH bill. The President is the chairperson of the LP. Last August, a meeting with Aquino also paved the way for lawmakers to end debates on the RH bill after more than a year of heated exchanges at the plenary. — Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK/RSJ, GMA News

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