The fight is far from over!

From the blog Confessions of a Prodigal Daughter:

PRO-RH SUPPORTERS CELEBRATE DEATH OF PHILIPPINE DEMOCRACY

Pro-Life lobbyists throw their hands in the air to applaud courageous Pro-Life congressmen 

who voted "No" to the RH Bill (Photo courtesy of CBCP for Life)

December 13, 2012 was the day democracy died (again) in our country.  And it is ironic that it was the very son of the hero who once restored democracy in our land, who actually put it to death.  This is even scarier because at least when Martial Law was declared 40 years ago, people were aware of the dictatorship, but now it is a silent one.  What's worse, some people-- many of them probably unsuspecting-- even celebrated it.  It is such a pity that they did not know they were not really celebrating the passage of the RH Bill, but the resurrection of Marcos.

I am against the RH Bill and although I felt sad that it was passed on second reading, what made me sadder was the process by which it was passed.  "Sad" is actually an understatement as I was already on the verge of tears out of anger as I witnessed how the Pro-RH people railroaded the bill at the House of Representatives in the wee hours of the night.  Aside from the public knowledge that our congressmen were bribed with P280 million worth of pork barrel by PNoy, we also learned while the five-hour nominal voting was going on, that Malacanang sent Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, Secretary Ricky Carandang, and Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, to pressure the congressmen to either vote yes to RH Bill or just go home and abstain from voting.  This is nothing but sheer corruption and abuse AND misuse of authority.

One of my Facebook friends tried to justify this, saying that what Malacañang did was just the same as what the Church is doing to the congressmen as She "threatens" them with the Catholic Vote.  However, this is an illogical analogy.  LOBBYING and BRIBING are two different things.  On one hand, the Church (composed of both lay and religious people) came to the House of Representatives as ordinary citizens exercising their right to lobby, and they stayed on the second and third floor galleries of the Batasan Building.  On the other hand, these people from Malacañang were operating inside the South Lounge of the building, looking for congressmen to send home as the fight between the votes became very close, as reported by the Inquirer.  If  Roxas, Lacierda, Carandang, and Abad came as ordinary citizens exercising their rights, they should have also stayed in the gallery where they would have been visible to all.  But wherever they stayed that night does not change the fact that they destroyed the integrity of the Philippine Government as the Executive Branch violated the independence of our legislators.  Nothing can justify that.

Contrary to what another one of my Pro-RH friends said, we are very far from a "politically mature Philippine legislative system," but we are definitely still stuck in a corrupt one.  However, I believe there is still hope-- and a huge one at that.  Considering the tally of votes: 113 allowed themselves to be bribed and dictated upon, 104 stood their ground and kept their integrity, and 3 abstained, those are 104 sparks of hope we got there!  And they could be more come Monday as the 63 absentees cast their vote on the Third Reading.

This fight is far from over.  What our congressmen need most right now is our moral support and assurance that if ever they do decide to go against the wishes of our President, they have the Filipino people to fall back on.  So be with us on Monday (December 17, 2012) either at the House of Representatives (Quezon City) or at the Senate (Pasay City) and show our love and support for our courageous legislators.  This is no longer just a fight for LIFE but a fight for our DEMOCRACY as well.  See you there!

Pictures don't lie: the crowds at the August 4, 2012 rally against the RH bill in EDSA

UPDATE 8/5/12 at 2:18 P.M. Manila time: Please see this article for a picture comparing the anti-RH rally in EDSA with the pro-RH rally with the Filipino Freethinkers a few days ago. No Comparison!


UPDATE 8/5/12 at 3:33 A.M. Manila time: Based on the pictures on this blog post as well as other sources, Dr. Quirino Sugon of Manila Observatory, blogger at the Monk's Hobbit, has made an initial estimate of the crowd as having been at 60,000. 

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And the pro-RH spin machine goes into high gear!

Manila Bulletin, in what will probably go down as one of the lowest and most shameful points in its history, declared that only 2,500 attended the rally. 

According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, there were only 7,000 at the rally today...

Manila Standard Today is a bit more generous: 10,000 were there!

As for the Philippine Star, it counted "more than 10,000" at the rally.

However, the pictures tell a different story.

From the UST Varsitarian:

From my friend Anna Cosio:

From Ricardo Boncan:

And from Lenard Berba comes this picture taken earlier in the rally, with a nice view of the streamers on a footbridge:

Videos of the RH Bill Forum in St. Peter's Church, Fairview (May 7, 2012)

Talk by Dr. Rene Bullecer:


Talk by Anna Cosio, a registered nurse:

 

 Talk by Atty. Marwil Llasos Ll.M, legal expert and Catholic apologist:

 

A Summary of the Filipinos for Life talk in Greenbelt Chapel

From the website of Greenbelt Chapel (Sto. Nino de Paz Community):

Going for the RH Bill? Read this...

(This article is based on the talks given by Mr. Anthony Perez and Ms. Anna Cosio on February 15, 2012, on the Reproductive Health Bill. Their talks were part of the 3rd Wednesday series of Talks at the Greenbelt Chapel. The Reproductive Health Bill was chosen as the topic since February was declared as Pro-Life Month.)

With all the news about earthquakes, strong typhoons, and the Corona impeachment, the discussion on House Bill 4244, otherwise known as the Reproductive Health or RH bill, has somewhat waned. It shouldn’t, though. If you think you already know everything that you need to know about the RH bill, please think again. A couple of lay speakers, Bro. Anthony of Filipinos for Life and Sis. Anna Cosio, RN, of Pro-Life Manila, talked about some myths surrounding the RH bill. Below are just a few of these:

If you think the Philippines needs an RH Bill to rally the public to be aware of population control, think again. Sis. Anna stated that the RH Bill is “80% redundant.” In other words, a big part of the RH Bill has already been covered in an existing law, Republic Act 9710, otherwise known as the Magna Carta of Women.

If you think oral contraceptives do not have any critical side effects, think again. Sis. Anna showed studies that the more popular oral contraceptives have been linked to an increased incidence of breast cancer among women.

If you think that the RH Bill does not espouse abortion, since the word “abortion” is not found in the proposed legislation, think again. Bro. Anthony cited organizations, like the Planned Parenthood (which is the largest abortion services provider) as backing the said bill.

If you think there is nothing wrong with children as young as Grade 5 being informed about their “reproductive rights,” think again. Bro. Anthony cited a provision which gives children the right to avail of reproductive health services (i.e., contraceptives) without even consulting or asking permission from their parents since this right is supposed to be protected by the state.

Bro. Anthony cited provisions in the RH Bill to demonstrate to the audience that the well-meaning intentions of the bill may lead to negative consequences. One of these, is an increase in the incidence of abortion. He cited a study that showed many women having resorted to abortion because other forms of contraceptives have failed. With the provisions he cited, Bro. Anthony has declared that the RH Bill is “the pathway for the legalization of abortion.”

Bro. Anthony also mentioned that the RH bill goes against the natural law on marriage. Marriage, he said, has two functions: unitive, which is to bring couples together in love; and, procreative, which is to engage in the sex act so as to procreate. The RH bill goes against these two functions.

Sis. Anna also cited the medical aspects of the RH bill, particularly the side effects of oral contraceptives. She referred to studies which linked oral contraceptives to an increased incidence in cancer. As an alternative, Sis. Anna mentioned the use of the Billings Ovulation Method, which is a natural method for family planning.

The talk on the RH Bill was a very timely wake-up call for the Greenbelt Community to ponder on. To really be pro-life, we must see children as joy and blessing – and not as burden.

Why are we pro-lifers like this?

Another for the "better late than never" category :)

From the article HCAI trainer speaks: 7 reasons why I oppose RH Bill. 7 Reasons Why I Oppose the RH Bill (And Why You Should, Too) 

by Anna Cosio

Discussing why I am personally against the bill would entail hours of writing. But since blogs are meant to be short and easy to read, I will just share with you guys the main reasons why I think such a bill is not the solution to the country’s problems. My reasons happen to be the same as those by the Catholic Church. If you’re in a hurry, you can just read the parts in bold letters. I hope that through this, those who support the RH Bill would at least rethink, if not totally change their views about life and the acts that are against it.

1. I pay my taxes and I don’t like the government using my money for something that is totally against my values and beliefs. Once the RH Bill is passed into law, the government will allocate a budget for “contraceptives and sterilization.” And I am against those things. They are against my Faith. Where is freedom of religion there if they leave me with no choice but to pay for those things through my taxes? The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, would it be just to use the people’s money to fund some programs that are simply anti-life, anti-Catholic?

2. The RH Bill has punitive measures against those who will not obey the Bill’s provisions. For sure, we’ll find many faithful priests, school owners, and medical practitioners behind bars if this bill is passed. Again, where is freedom of religion there? Where is respect for one’s beliefs?

3. The Philippines is NOT overpopulated, but there IS “over-concentration” of people in the urban areas– and this is a fact, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO) itself. So the Population Committee, whatever their hidden agenda is, should simply stop pushing this bill. You’re solving the wrong problem, guys, and with the wrong solution at that. Just like in nursing: Wrong assessment = wrong nursing diagnosis = wrong nursing care plan = wrong interventions = ineffective nursing care. One of the causes of poverty is “a flawed philosophy of development” and RH Bill is a good example of that.

4. “Moral corruption is the root of all corruption.” (CBCP) And P-Noy, during his campaign, said, “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.” True. I just hope he digs deeper into the cause of the problem and see that greed is rooted in a corrupted conscience. Because you cannot distribute the country’s resources fairly, you’re just going to prevent birth of new citizens? How selfish. Greedy. Exactly the mentality of the corrupt.

5. “Contraceptives provide a false sense of security that takes away the inhibition to sexual activity.” (CBCP) Where the use of contraceptives is prevalent, there the higher rates of unwanted pregnancy, abortion, and HIV/AIDS are. “Safe sex to diminish abortion rates is false propaganda.” (CBCP) History repeats itself because we don’t learn from past mistakes and the mistakes of others.

6. I simply do not trust schools teaching sex education to my children (in the future). I’ve met enough untrustworthy teachers in my life– teachers with distorted values (or no values at all). Who knows? My children (in the future) might encounter them someday as their sex education teachers. O God, spare their innocence. Parents are still the best teachers of this subject. Even Sharon Cuneta said this on one of those advocacy advertisements.

7. Not all women have right and formed consciences. The proponents of the RH Bill claim that such bill empowers women without dictate of any religion, BUT with dictate of the government. Are they saying it’s better to follow human law than divine law? Seriously, what does the Philippine government know about morality? Poor women of the Philippines… trying to be like the so-called liberated women of the West who had been used by men, whose dignity had been trampled upon, and they still think that’s empowerment.

I have seen the RH Bill and I’ve read almost the entire thing to avoid biases. Yea, there are good programs, but I think those programs for health can be handled by the Department of Health. Those programs, like care of the pregnant mother and the newborn, education on family planning, and the like are already existent. They only have to be reinforced. Might I just suggest improving the sterile practices in lying-in clinics? They’ve been breaking the principles of asepsis there (based on what I’ve seen in my duties). Instead of buying contraceptives, they could buy autoclaves instead.

Read the RH Bill yourself and you’ll understand why we “Pro-Lifers” are like this.