Hopes and fears

Christmas this year is admittedly laden with more fears and anxieties than with hopes. More so because of the undue railroading of the RH bill that has driven a seemingly deep chasm in our country. The passage of the bill by Congress and its inevitable approval by the president who aggressively and inordinately ensure such passage despite the bill’s potentially harmful and dangerous effects, undoubtedly heightened such fear.

Indeed the fear of the bill’s harmful effects cannot be readily discarded and peremptorily ignored despite its apparently laudable purposes. PNoy’s call for unity and for us to move on after the bill’s enactment into law is quite unfeasible at this stage simply because of the many unsettled questions surrounding it.

First of all, is our country really overpopulated as to necessitate the reduction of our population especially the poor sector for purposes of alleviating poverty in our land and spurring economic growth? PNoy and his cohorts in Congress who approved the bill obviously think so. But statistics from World Bank itself which is one of those actively pushing our government to pass this bill, show that our population growth rate has been steadily declining towards zero growth rate now experienced by other countries which adopted the population control policy that we are now adopting. In fact what is now happening in those countries have forced them to reverse said policy and to encourage their populace to have more children before their nation “die” because of aging population. Our policy makers should have scrutinized more closely that our problem is overconcentration of population in urban areas rather than overpopulation.

Besides, as has also been repeatedly pointed out but ignored, the solution to poverty is not the reduction of the number of poor people. In fact, right now, this administration claims that our economy is on the upsurge even if we are supposedly overpopulated. Actually, people are valuable assets in any country so that instead of reducing their number, the government should decongest the urban centers and take care of the urban poor by providing them with proper education, and stable jobs through sound economic policy and less corruption in public service. The truth is the big number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) forced to work abroad precisely because of bad governance here, are even contributing to sustain our economy and spur our economic growth.

Secondly, even if the purpose of the bill is also to promote the reproductive and maternal health of women and their children, is it right for this administration to provide universal access to reproductive health care and services like contraceptive pills, injectables and other artificial birth control methods? Again, PNoy and his cohorts in Congress think so. They even appropriated billions of pesos of tax payers’ money so that the poor can avail of them for free should they choose these contraceptives to limit the size of their family in the exercise of “Responsible  Parenthood”. The problem here however is that these contraceptives are dangerous to the life and health of women  and children and some of them directly cause abortion while the other also lead to abortion as already shown by medical, legal and scientific findings. Besides the experiences in other countries that freely allow the use of contraceptives indicate major breakdown in marriages and families that have even spawned violence and senseless killings in their communities because of lack of due regard for human life. Somehow, even if this administration really means well for our country and people as it repeatedly claims, some kind of fear cannot be totally erased because in expressing that concern, it has exposed the physical and moral life and health of our people to great risks.

Hence, during this Christmas people cannot help but be more fearful of the dire future facing our next generation because of this latest development in our country. Nevertheless in response to the call of Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, let us have more faith this Christmas in the midst of all these fears. This is the time indeed to “put more trust in our hopes and in our God than in our fears” pursuant to the theme of the Gospel in one of the simbang gabi Masses. For indeed, there is still hope for unity in this country even as we continue to be divided on these issues confronting us now as a result of the enactment into law of this controversial bill. At least now, under the workings of our democracy, these issues will be decisively resolved by the third branch of government headed by the Supreme Court, which will decide whether or not this law is really in accordance with truth and justice pursuant to the provisions of our Constitution drawn up by duly chosen framers with the aid of the Divine Providence. More specifically, the SC will decide based on the following provisions:

Article II Section 12: “The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic, autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in … the development of moral character shall receive the support of the government”;

Article III Section 5: “No law shall be made respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”;

Article XV Section 1: “The State recognizes the Filipino Family as the foundation of the nation. Accordingly, it shall strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development;

Section 2: “Marriage as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State”;

Section 3: The State shall defend the right of the spouses to found a family in accordance with their religious convictions and the demands of responsible parenthood”.

So on this Christmas time, let us trust in our hopes and pray for God’s mercy on us all.

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