House ends RH debate

With resounding “ayes,” the contentious debates on the reproductive health (RH) bill came to an abrupt end Monday in the House of Representatives, just hours after President Benigno Aquino summoned congressmen to the Palace and pleaded to bring the measure forward to its second stage.

This means the controversial population control measure would now go through a period of amendments, before it is put to a vote on second reading on the floor.

For the first time since 188 congressmen agreed to impeach then Chief Justice Renato Corona in blitzkrieg fashion last December in a Japanese restaurant, lawmakers went to lunch in the Palace Monday to attend to yet another priority administration project.

There, they heard Mr. Aquino make what one attendee described as a “diplomatic appeal”—no, the President did not issue marching orders according to this congressman—to 182 lawmakers present during the two-and-a-half hour meeting to end the interpellations in the House that had bogged down progress in discussions  of the bill.

Back in the House later, the majority of the 231 members present—including former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao who both oppose the RH bill—yelled “aye!” when asked for a viva voce, or voting orally.

The vote came 24 hours ahead of schedule, short-circuiting attempts by the Catholic Church hierarchy to mount yet another protest against the measure originally set for decision Tuesday. Church leaders have threatened to campaign in next year’s election against lawmakers favoring the RH bill.

‘God have mercy on him’

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco moved for nominal voting in an apparent bid to identify those favoring the bill, but withdrew his motion after it was largely ignored as the evening session broke up.

“God have mercy on him and on us,” said Fr. Melvin Castro, executive director of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, of the President’s action just two days after the Church led an anti-RH rally at the  Edsa Shrine attended by a crowd of about 10,000. He warned that the Church would not take the move lightly, saying “2013 is just around the corner.”

In the upper chamber, however, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who attended Saturday’s rally, announced he had questions about the bill, calling for the reopening of interpellation. Enrile is against the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto, who is also against the measure, said the House action “does not affect the Senate, as far as I’m concerned.”

Proponents of the bill in the Senate have complained that the leadership was sitting on the measure, threatening to derail administration plans to enact the bill into law this year to afford the poor access to maternal health care and family planning methods.

One opponent of the bill, Anwaray Rep. Florencio Noel, said the period of amendments—the next stage in the lawmaking process—could be equally contentious. This is where compromises may be made and battles on corrections would take place.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer