MANILA, SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 (MALAYA) BY GERARD NAVAL - If passed, Catholics will be told to uphold religious teachings.
AN official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines yesterday told the Aquino administration that if the reproductive health bill becomes a law, Church leaders will ask the faithful not to observe provisions that are against Church teachings.
"Basta sa sandaling maipasa yung batas na yun (RH), there will be civil disobedience with regards to the provisions that are against the law of the Church," said Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, head of the CBCP's Public Affairs Committee. "We will disobey certain provisions of the RH bill."
The Caloocan bishop, however, stressed that "civil disobedience" will be a last resort in their continued efforts to oppose the bill.
But observers said there is nothing in the bill that is obligatory; in fact, it gives the people choices that cannot be seen as obligatory.
Asked if the clergy would consider joining protest actions being readied by lay members, he said, "Hindi malayo na kami ay sasama."
Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, on Tuesday said members of the lay community are finalizing their plans on how to protest President Aquino's position on reproductive health and family planning.
Aquino on Monday reiterated his position of being for responsible parenthood. He said he is leaving it to couples to decide on whether they want to adopt family planning methods, and which method to use if they decide to. He said the government's only obligation to the couple is to inform them of what choices are available.
The Church is against the use of contraceptives. It allows couples only to resort to the natural family planning method. The reproductive health bill allows the use of contraceptives like condoms.
It is believed that Aquino's statement, which is taken to mean he will not ban contraceptives, will lead to the swift passage of the RH bill.
Malacañang said Aquino would remain firm on his stand to promote responsible parenthood, and this he would explain to Church officials when he meets with them.
No date has been set for a dialogue, said Abigail Valte, deputy presidential spokeswoman.
"The President stand has always been for responsible parenthood. He recognized…we have finite resources and that every year our population is going up…the President has been consistent about this, that the choice should be given to the parents," she said.
Valte said Aquino wants to hear the side of the Church on this issue and at the same time "reiterate his policy" and "convey his thoughts on the matter."
On the "civil disobedience" issue, Valte said, "We appeal to them for sobriety. Let us all calm down and let us wait for the dialogue before anything of this sort comes into play."
The women's rights advocacy group EnGenderRights said Aquino should not push through with the planned dialogue because it would "step on the principle of separation of Church and State and non-establishment of religion."
Clara Rita Padilla, the group's executive director, said the government should just implement the Magna Carta on Women in providing access to family planning methods.
EnGenderRights supports the use of artificial family planning methods.
Padilla said the denial of access to family planning information, supplies and services impacts on the poor, rural and indigenous women and adolescent women.
She said the Philippines is a signatory to the 2006 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
CEDAW, which was ratified on Aug. 5, 1981, recommends "making a comprehensive range of contraceptives more widely available."
The Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (DSWP), a federation of women's organizations with around 40,000 individual members nationwide, reacted to Church leaders' sentiments.
"The hurt you (Catholic bishops) feel cannot be compared to the sufferings of women who die due to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications and to the agony suffered by the families they leave behind," said Elizabeth Angsioco, national chair of the DSWP which is pushing for the passage of the RH bill.
According to Angsioco, many women have died or almost died because of the lack of access to family planning and reproductive health education and services. – With Jocelyn Montemayor and Angela Lopez de Leon
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