Gabriela holds forum for RH Bill

CEBU, Philippines - The tug-of-war over the Reproductive Health Bill continues.

As the Roman Catholic Church held vigils last night against the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill, the Gabriela Women’s Partylist, which filed last October the sixth version of the RH Bill in Congress, conducted a forum pushing for its passage at the University of the Philippines (UP) conference hall yesterday.

Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan of the Gabriela Partylist led the discussion alongside Professor Edgar Gahisan of the University of Southern Philippines (USP), Nonita Palacio, Vice-Chairperson of the Cebu Urban poor Women’s League, and Dr. Mark Molina, health professional.

Rep. Ilagan said that the bill their group filed seeks to make reproductive health care a responsibility primarily of the government.

Ilagan said that their version of the proposal focuses on providing essential reproductive health services especially to the women. It also advocates for sex education among youth.

She said that unlike the other RH bills filed in the congress that focus on population as the main problem, Ilagan said theirs point to the unequal distribution of wealth as the main problem.

“Kung ikaw babae ka nya himsug nya gusto nimo walo imu anak it’s your right. If you have access with resources there should not be a problem,” Ilagan said.

But because of the Philippine situation wherein a great number of people who have no access to good health services, Ilagan said needs are unmet, not even access to proper information.

Misinformation and myths are reasons why many less fortunate women have greater number of children.

Prof. Gahisan of the academe strongly supports the bill, saying that if the students will have proper knowledge of what the bill is all about then they will be the ones who will take the lead in the campaign.

Ilagan is confident that there are many people who are secretly supporting the bill, including a Catholic-based group.

She reiterated that it is the right of a man and a woman to exercise his or her freedom to decide. (FREEMAN)