Lagman pushes RH Bill 96 in the 15th Congress

Rep. Edcel C. Lagman has refiled his controversial legislative measure in the 15th Congress as House Bill No. 96.

The feisty legislator from the first district of Albay noted in the bill’s explanatory note that when the first comprehensive version of House Bill 8110 or “The Integrated Population and Development Act of 1999” was filed in the 11th Congress, the Philippines had a population of roughly 75 million. Today, 10 years later, the Philippines is the 12th most populous country in the world with a population of 94.3 million or a staggering increase of 19.3 million. This would translate to an annual average increase of almost two million people every year in a decade.

The RH bill filed in the 14th Congress fared better than its predecessor bills which, Lagman said, “languished in the committee level and sponsorship stage.” HB 8110 reached extensive debates on second reading, but failed to pass “due to opposition dilatory maneuvers, lack of quorum and faltering commitment of the House leadership.”

 Lagman emphasizes that RH Bill 96, or the “Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population and Development,” maintains freedom of informed choice wherein parents, couples and women enjoy the liberty or option of choosing from a menu of modern-natural and artificial family planning methods which are medically safe, legal, accessible, affordable and effective.

 “Neither the State nor the Church can compel the citizens or the faithful to adopt a particular method of family planning,” said Lagman.

The bill, he said, is a nationwide and comprehensive policy on reproductive health which is rights-based, health-oriented and development-driven.

The measure’s principal objectives are six-fold.

— It will give parents the opportunity to exercise their right to freely and responsibly plan the number and spacing of their children.

— Help improve maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition and reduce maternal, infant and child mortality. (In the Philippines, 11 mothers die daily due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.)

— Give women more opportunities to finish their education and secure productive work by freeing them from unremitting pregnancies.

— It will help reduce poverty and achieve sustainable human development.

— It will help lower the incidence of abortion by preventing unplanned, mistimed and unwanted pregnancies. 

— It will generate savings for the government through the improvement of maternal and infant health and reduction of maternal and infant mortality.

Lagman is certain that RH Bill No. 96 will pass in the 15h Congress.

*   *   *

On another front, during my recent visit to Gingoog City, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the lay person who would be giving the homily at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines in Lunao, a town 20 minutes away from Gingoog, was my niece, Louvenie “Jekjek” Ellana, daughter of my sister Louella. A Grade I teacher in the city public school, she holds tutorials after school hours, and, with the help of an assistant she trained, enables toddlers to read words in a month or two, cooks and bakes, fixes our house, makes tables and chairs, and drives her own motorcycle. She’s in her late 40s, but I still consider her my “little” super girl. I learned lessons as she spoke from the pulpit of the little church on the topic “Miracles Aren’t Enough.” She told me she borrowed ideas from readings, and spoke about miracles in her family and personal life. When I told her I’d like to mention what she said in my column, she said, “My ideas may not be theologically correct to some readers.” I said I was touched by it, and some readers may be touched too.

She began by saying people in the olden times believed in magic, in sorcerers and witches who could use chants, spells and charms to let things — good and bad – happen. The first priests, Jekjek said, were shamans who were called upon to communicate with the spiritual world, who led rituals to make hunting expeditions successful, crops to grow, and to prevent disasters.

 With time, people no longer turned to shamans or magic. The kind of magic that is popular today is staged by magicians, who, by sleight of hand, make things disappear and appear.

Jekjek said, Jesus Christ performed miracles, not to have people worship him as miracle maker, but, as Hebrew 2:4 says, “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” Many of those believed, as they saw Jesus turn water into wine, heal the sick, raise the dead to life, calm down storms, and drive away demons.

These days, Jek said, not too many people believe in miracles, but consider unusual things happening to be mere coincidences. In our own family, she said, the most dramatic miracle took place when her aunt, Rosario or Tenten (my younger sister) had contracted meningitis when she was six months old. One day, the doctor said that there was no hope, in a few minutes, she would die. Thereupon, Mama cried and screamed, as she raised her hands to the heavens, “Lord, let her live, give us a miracle.” Suddenly, Tenten, who had become still, started to breath and opened her eyes. The doctor said, “This is a miracle.” Mama renamed her Milagros, and Mama’s faith in the Lord became stronger, up to the day she died in Australia several years ago. Tenten is now 59 years old, has four grown-up kids, and a granddaughter who is the joy of her life.

Jekjek ended her homily with the words, “Why don’t we realize that miracles are happening in our lives today? Why don’t we remember the wonderful works that Jesus did? Seeing miracles is not enough, though, if we do not believe who caused them to happen. Those miracles should make us repent for our sins, and turn to the Lord.”

*      *      *

My e-mail: [email protected]