'Freedom of choice'

More than ever, the Constitution is being put to a test. Catholic priests have been using their influence over the years to block the RH bill, threatening to excommunicate politicians who support it. Laguna diocesan director Fr. Jerry Oblepias even told the President of this Republic to study the Constitution, but when we checked it, Section 6 of Article II of the Constitution categorically declares that “The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.” Implicit to this then is the prohibition on government to pass laws that may favor one religion over another. In the same vein, the State should not also prevent the passage of laws in order to show partiality for a specific religion. Today being Easter Sunday, it won’t be surprising if the number of Catholic churchgoers who believe in the RH bill will be uncomfortable with the continuing arrogance and belligerence displayed by priests and bishops in attacking people who support the Reproductive Health bill.

Retired bishop Oscar Cruz was acting like “a grumpy old man” when he called P-Noy “anti-Christian” and “childish” because the President said he was willing to be excommunicated for supporting a bill that would enable Filipino couples into making informed choices about family planning. Not to be outdone, Fr. Jerry Oblepias labeled the president a “bad Catholic,” and Baguio Cathedral’s Fr. Jose Vernon Ilano told parishioners attending mass to get out of the Church if they support the RH bill. Not content with banishing his flock, this priest then went on to attack former congresswoman Risa Hontiveros as “ugly” for her stand in supporting the RH bill.

To many thinking Filipinos, it’s these priests who are clearly showing a “holier than thou” childish and arrogant behavior in continuing to invoke the name of God to derail the passage of a bill that gives people the opportunity to choose what method they want to use in managing their families. Like Risa said, priests like Ilano are giving God a bad name and are turning away the Catholic faithful from the Church. Several decades ago, the Catholic faithful in Spain and Italy began to dwindle. Today, less than one third of Catholics in these countries go to church, forcing some to close down.

A large majority of Filipinos are depending on President Noy to be strong in resisting any kind of pressure for him to backtrack on such an important piece of legislation that will clearly define the future of this country. He must not forget that he is the president of all Filipinos — and not the president of a people belonging to just one faith. It is during instances like this that people want to see the legendary stubbornness of the president, seeing it as a sign of independence on his part. Even before his inauguration, P-Noy already showed this independent streak when he refused to see an influential relative. This independence became even more evident when he refused to appoint any political “recommendee” to the Supreme Court and instead, chose Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno whom he has never met before — making only one request to her: “Do the right thing.”

It is unfortunate that the raging debate over the RH bill has come to this, with the head of the State and Catholic church leaders never agreeing on anything — but it will inevitably take someone like Noynoy Aquino (who owes his position to no one except perhaps to his parents) to “do the right thing” for the sake of the poor Filipino. Time and time again, the UN Commission on Population and Development has been warning the Philippines that only an effective reproductive health program can help eradicate or at least reduce poverty, and that a slower population growth will ultimately result in faster economic growth. We can see that unmitigated population growth has already brought the number of Filipinos to over 101 million today. One only has to observe the jam-packed MRT and LRT trains to see the human congestion, or the number of people (three times compared to last year) packing bus terminals, ports and airports during Holy Week. Our country is literally bursting at the seams.

Surveys have also shown that majority of Filipinos not only support the RH bill but more so, also want the freedom to decide the family planning method best suited for them. An average of 11 Filipino mothers die of childbirth every day, and studies conducted by the World Health Organization show that proper birth spacing also reduces the risk of death for newborns and infants by at least 50 percent. According to a family planning survey, at least 41 percent of women belonging to the poor sector want to avoid another pregnancy but they do not know what to use as a contraceptive method due to lack of information and access to modern family planning methods. In a barangay in Batangas, residents wanted to be responsible parents so they could feed and properly care for their children but the local parish priest banned them from going to a family planning clinic with the threat that they will not be welcomed in “my church” and that their souls will “go to hell.” Pardon the pun — but what the hell is this? And since when did he own the church?

The Constitution of this country clearly insures freedom for all and more importantly sanctions freedom of choice. Each one of us has his own faith and whether people believe in Allah or Buddha, at the end of the day, we all pray to the same God. No one must dictate to us. Let our conscience guide us in exercising our freedom of choice.

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