ARMM's Hataman signs reg'l RH law

COTABATO CITY - While the House of Representatives and the Senate were voting on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill , the regional government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Minanao (ARMM) enacted into law its own version of the controversial measure on Monday.

The regional RH law is focused on birth-spacing based on the spiritual context of "respect for life" and the parents' capability to sustain their children to ensure their welfare and rear them into becoming responsible, peace-loving adults.

“This law is supported by the region’s Muslim and Christian religious sectors,” said Speaker Rasol Mitmug, Jr., of the ARMM’s 27-member Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA), touted as the “Little Congress” of the autonomous region.

While abortion is forbidden as it is a mortal sin in Islam, the faith has extensive teachings on natural means of birth-spacing and responsible parenthood, both as an obligation and as basis for "quality application" by parents of Islamic child and maternal protection and health care tenets.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman signed into law the Muslim Autonomy Act 292 or the Regional Reproductive Health Law, in the presence of RLA members in a symbolic rite at the Office of the Regional Governor at about 4:00 p.m. Monday.

Hataman and Mitmug both said they were elated with the smooth passage of the regional RH law, to be jointly implemented by the region’s health and social welfare departments, the local media communities and local government units, through the office of the ARMM’s newly-appointed interior secretary, lawyer Makmod Mending Jr.

Islamic scholars had earlier issued a “fatwah” or edict, to hasten the enactment of the regional RH law, which also declared birth control, via natural methods, as a means of ensuring family welfare and to guarantee children’s access to schools, health care, and proper nourishment, as acceptable.

Assemblywoman Samira Gutoc, representative of the ARMM’s women sector to the RLA, said the newly-signed regional RH law is “absolutely biased to mothers” regardless of whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims.

“When you take care of the mothers, you take care of a society. When you educate mothers, you educate a household and, eventually, a generation of people in the autonomous region, Gutoc said.

The regional RH law, according to Gutoc, assures women in the autonomous region of free and quality reproductive health, maternal and child care services.

“This law is not about espousing the use of artificial and unIslamic means of birth control. It’s more on educating our people on the importance of birth-spacing, as espoused by Islam, to assure ARMM’s children of seeing a bright, peaceful  future,” Hataman said.

Complete, effective

Assemblyman Khadafy Mangudadatu, who is from the second district of Maguindanao, said local government units must complement the regional RH law with ordinances enjoining prospective couples to undergo orientation on their applications as a requisite to weddings.

“It is bad in Islam to sire many children just for the heck of it or as status symbol, or for political purposes, and then let them suffer in this world because of the lack of physical and financial capabilities to sustain them. That should be taught to would-be-couples,” Mangudadatu said.

Mangudadatu said he and his older sibling, Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, are keen on testing the efficiency of the newly-enacted regional RH law, as a “pilot project,” in their hometown in Buluan, to determine possible needed refinements or expansion of its coverage.

“But for now, we are convinced that this new law is complete and effective. It was crafted with the extensive participation of our Muslim and Christian religious leaders, medical practitioners and `halal’ experts,” Mangudadatu said.

The Arabic term halal refers to many practices, including administering medicines and the handling of food, in a manner permitted in Islam. Anything not halal is referred to by Muslims as “haram” or forbidden.

Ustadz Esmael Ebrahim, a commissioner in the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, said they are ready to help in the implementation of the ARMM’s regional RH law in all of the region’s two cities and five provinces.

“That law has the imprimatur of the ARMM’s Islamic religious community. We will help enforce that law.” He said.

Ebrahim said clerics in the region issued an edict, as early as 2003, supporting the implementation of reproductive and maternal health care programs in the autonomous region that are in accordance with Islamic laws.