Misleading report

Malacañang spin-doctors seem to be working full blast in their efforts to push through with the alleged “Responsible Parenthood” bill. In a Philippine STAR news last Tuesday, January 25, 2011 (page 8), Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that government officials and Catholic Church representatives met last Monday, January 24, 2011 to reconcile differences on the said bill, and that so far, the Catholic Church has no more objections to making it a priority legislation for the administration. He said that Malacañang hopes that the Church will drop its opposition entirely when discussions are completed.

But what actually transpired was that at the very start of the meeting, Monsignor Figura, who belongs to the Church panel asked for clarification if indeed “a responsible parenthood bill” is a priority in the legislative agenda. The uniform response of the Palace group composed of Lacierda himself and DOH Secretary Ona, DSWD Secretary Soliman and PMS Chief Julie Abad is that there is no bill yet and it is only an “idea” in the “priority” list or agenda of the President. And this “idea” is meant to “enable parents to raise their children well”.

Obviously there is a great difference between what transpired and what was fed to the news reporters. There is actually no such bill yet. It is only an “idea”. So it cannot be said that the government officials and the Catholic Church representatives met to “reconcile differences on the responsible parenthood bill”, and that the “Church will drop its opposition to the bill entirely when discussions are completed”. It cannot likewise be said that the “Church has, so far, no more objection to making the bill a priority legislation of the administration”.

Indeed, in the last meeting, Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, another member of the Church Panel that also includes Bishop Gabby Reyes, Bishop Tagle, Dr. Bernie Villegas, Attys. Jo Imbong and Dindo Graciano and Dr. Ligaya Acosta, explained to the government panel the meaning of “responsible parenthood” in the Church’s teachings apparently to set the parameters for drafting the responsible parenthood bill that may be acceptable to the Church. It is a tacit way of saying that the Church may have no objection to a draft of the bill actualizing that idea of the President, if it will not pervert such meaning.

What really took place in that meeting was an exchange of their respective positions on the controversial family planning methods that include the use of all kinds of contraceptives. Secretary Ona said that DOH does not set nor enforce quotas for contraception or sterilization. The government panel likewise stated that there will be due respect for religious belief and conscience rights.

There is no truth to the report however that the Church has “no objection, or has no reason to disagree”, to all methods of family planning as long as full information is given regarding them. This is contrary to the very essence of responsible parenthood explained by Archbishop Aniceto which “calls for an understanding of the reproductive processes of the spouses’ bodies including women’s fertility cycle, so that like any passion, the sexual drive should not always be satisfied by the use of contraceptives but should be placed under the control of the intellect and the will through the exercise of virtues rendering the sexual faculties truly expressive of conjugal love and self giving”.

Furthermore, the government panel in said meeting, speaking through Dr. Ona agreed with what Dr. Bernie Villegas said about population growth and development and also added that the intention of the government is to alleviate poverty, not to set population targets or control the population. Apparently this is the only point where the Church and government agreed. So, there is a need for more meetings to discuss how poverty could be alleviated including the issue on whether a bill of whatever title is still necessary for this purpose.

This is the gist of what occurred during the meeting. Malacañang drum beaters should refrain from webbing other details creating a public perception that there is already a responsible parenthood bill and that they see no more objections from the Church regarding said bill. In fact, people, especially the bishops who are having plenary meeting this week, have yet to see such bill which is currently in the news. This tactic only inflames the suspicion that the government is bent on securing the approval of the highly objectionable RH bill in the guise promoting “responsible parenthood”.

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The UST’s 400th anniversary

Today, the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron of the University of Santo Tomas, thousands of alumni, faculty, students, and other staff of the University of Santo Tomas will celebrate its 400 years of existence with a Quadricentennial Thanksgiving Mass and Grand Alumni Homecoming starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Plaza Mayor inside the UST campus in España Manila.

The main celebrant of the Mass is the prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski who was named by Pope Benedict XVI to represent him in the 400th anniversary celebration.

As reported in the internet by the Zenit Organization, the Pope in his Latin language letter dated November 27, 2010 but made public on January 20, 2011, highlighted the contribution the university has offered for centuries “to the educational, cultural and religious development of young people,” carrying out a valuable service to “spread and confirm the Catholic faith in Asia.” 

The Pontiff reflected that the institution has furnished high-level instruction “to hundreds of presbyters and bishops, religious and faithful,” who then went to many places “to build the Kingdom of God.” The school and the university constitute “a particular ambit of the encounter between the Word of God and culture,” he added. The Bishop of Rome praised “the constant faithful action and the merits” of the university, and expressed his hope that it will continue forward, “so that faith in Christ will obtain the first place.”

Santo Tomas University is the oldest operating university in Asia. It was established under the initiative of Dominican Archbishop Miguel de Benavides (1552-1605), the third archbishop of Manila. He allocated his properties and personal library to the institution of a college for the preparation of seminarians. 

The college was founded officially on April 28, 1611, with the name “Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.” Later, the name was changed in homage to St. Thomas Aquinas, and authorized to confer academic titles in theology and philosophy. 

In 1645, Pope Innocent X elevated the college to the status of university. In 1681, Pope Innocent XI declared it a public university of general studies, authorizing the conferring of other academic titles. In 1902, Pope Leo XIII conferred on it the title of “Pontifical University,” and in 1947, Pope Pius XII named it the “Catholic University of the Philippines.” 

The university campus is 21 hectares (52 acres) in the district of Sampaloc.

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