House starts debates on RH bill

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives is starting this afternoon the plenary debates on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill even if it was not listed as a priority bill by the executive department.      

Proponents of the bill believe the bill on family planning will be passed in the House before the 15th Congress adjourns in June.                                                                                         

“We (RH advocates) do not only have the superiority of numbers; we also have the superiority of arguments,” said the bill’s principal author, Minority Leader Edcel Lagman.           

Lagman is expected to deliver his sponsorship speech today.                                 

He maintains the country needs an RH law because it would allow parents to plan the spacing of children using their preferred method of family planning.                                                                      “The RH bill is rights-based and central to the measure is freedom of informed choice. In order not to diminish or dilute the freedom of informed choice, there is neither penalty for non-acceptors nor reward for acceptors,” he said.

Lagman also believes the law would help the Philippines achieve its Millennium Development Goals on maternal and child health.

Last week, the House appropriations committee approved funding for the bill should it be enacted into law.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), however, said the passage of the bill would not address the country’s high maternal mortality rate.          

CBCP secretary-general Monsignor Juanito Figura said the main causes of maternal deaths in the country are lack of education and basic services, and failure of the government to deliver basic services. – With Helen Flores