RH bill opponents using dilatory tactics - Lagman

MANILA, Philippines – Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of the Reproductive Health Bill, accused yesterday opponents of the contentious measure of allegedly resorting to “dilatory tactics.”

“Delay is not victory. It is merely postponing the eventual defeat of those opposed to Bill 5403,” he said in a statement.

The bill seeks to promote both natural and modern methods of family planning, which is opposed by the Catholic Church and conservative lawmakers.

Lagman said those opposed to the measure have been resorting to “long winding interpellations, baseless procedural objections to the committees’ approval of the bill and irrelevant attacks on the funding and motives of non-government organization advocates.”

He said the House committees on health, population and family relations, appropriations, and rules have approved the measure.

He criticized Cebu City Rep. Raul del Mar, who he said has already consumed two session days of interpellation “after an almost 30-minute long preliminary discourse on his objections, which many considered as a turno en contra speech.”

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, Del Mar passionately argued against Bill 5403, calling the family planning products that it seeks to promote as “dangerous and hazardous” to health.

Lagman said Del Mar raised alleged “technical defects” in the approval of the measure by the four committees.

“It was approved without a dissenting vote and no seasonable motion for reconsideration was filed against its approval,” he said.

He said Del Mar “even went to the extent of questioning the legitimate funding support and reproductive health advocacy of the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc. (PLCPD), of which he was a founding member and erstwhile supporter.”

The foundation is composed of scores of senators and congressmen. It receives funding from international organizations, including the United Nations Population Fund.

Del Mar questioned why PLCPD has an office at the Batasan Pambansa building, which houses the House of Representatives. It was even able to get a choice room, he said.

“As the interpellations meander, the attendance in the plenary (session hall) predictably dwindles, giving critics the chance to question the existence of a quorum,” Lagman said.

Last week, it was Quezon City Rep. Mary Ann Susano who always questioned the quorum.

“We need warm bodies, Mr. Speaker,” she once said.

Deputy Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II responded with sarcasm: “If she needs a warm body, I can oblige. I have a large warm body.”

The influential Iglesia Ni Cristo has thrown its support behind the family planning bill, while some Catholic Church leaders have expressed their opposition to it.

Meanwhile, despite reports of some legislators having withdrawn their support for the passage of the controversial reproductive health bill because of pressures from Church leaders, two congressmen from North Cotabato are reportedly ignoring the appeal of their bishop. – With Evelyn Macairan