This is an archive for open letters and declarations, illustrations, treatises, opinion pieces, interviews and videos that support the orthodox Catholic position on the so-called "Reproductive Health Law" passed by the Philippine Legislature and signed into law in December 2012. (NB: Inclusion of a given piece in this blog-archive neither necessarily signifies the blog owner's agreement with all of its assertions, nor does it mean that he endorses it as completely accurate or precise.)
Showing posts with label State of the Soul of the Nation Address. Show all posts
Showing posts with label State of the Soul of the Nation Address. Show all posts
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
More on Dr. Palabyab versus the RH Bill
(For the record, not even I would say that the RH bill -- which I passionately oppose -- makes contraception an essential component of marriage. - CAP.)
From CBCP for Life:
MANILA, July 26, 2011–At the July 25 State of the Soul of the Nation Address (SSONA) organized by the interfaith Pro-Life Coalition, one of the speakers, Dr. Eleanor Palabyab, touched on the widespread use of contraception and how a landmark papal letter had predicted its consequences on marriage, families, and on societies worldwide.
Palabyab, the president of the group Doctors for Life, appealed to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to reject measures that will end up destroying the institutions of marriage and the family, particularly the heavily opposed Reproductive Health (RH) bill.
From the State of the Soul of the Nation Address
From CBCP for Life. Emphases (via underlining) mine.
(UPDATE: A more detailed article can be found in the website of the UST Varsitarian: 'State of the Soul of the Nation' Address: Faith and democracy can coexist'.)
(UPDATE: A more detailed article can be found in the website of the UST Varsitarian: 'State of the Soul of the Nation' Address: Faith and democracy can coexist'.)
MANILA, July 25, 2011–Several hours before President Benigno Simeon Aquino III was to deliver his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), a crowd of some 1,500 gathered at a historically significant place to take part in a “Congress of the Faithful” and listen to designated representatives of the Pro-Life Coalition deliver its own “State of the Soul of the Nation Address” (SSONA).
From the Corazon Aquino Kalayaan Hall of Club Filipino, where former President Corazon Aquino –the current President’s late mother—took her oath as president after the 1986 Edsa revolt, former Senator Francisco Tatad started the Address on a firm but reassuring note:
“We gather here today in our own name, and in the name of all Filipinos who want to live in truth, justice, freedom, peace and love – in a country that fully recognizes and respects the inviolable dignity of every human person, the State’s irrevocable duty to every citizen, and God’s unfailing providence, from which ‘all blessings flow.’”
He stated that the event was being carried out not to dispute or nullify the President’s words in his SONA, nor was it to imply that the Club Filipino address was the “true SONA,” but “to examine our objective national condition, express our faith and hope in the good things to come and give voice to our just anxieties and fears about the new challenges we face and many recurring ills.”
‘We swear allegiance to the same Constitution’
“We affirm the same truth about man, and profess the same commitment to human life, the family and marriage, which both the Church and the State are totally committed to protect and defend,” he said.
“We swear allegiance and loyalty to the same Constitution, and the same flag, and we claim the same rights and stand by the same duties as citizens.
May [the President] succeed in rekindling our people’s faith in his ability to inspire and lead them along the right and righteous path.
‘Soul of our nation’
We want to listen to the President. And we want all our countrymen to hang on to his every word. But we ask the President and the entire government to listen to us as well in the true spirit of give-and-take.
Before giving the floor to the succeeding speakers, Tatad explained the context in which the Address was crafted.
“By the phrase ‘the soul of our nation,’ we mean the transcendental, moral, intellectual, spiritual and religious qualities that define our being as one people, that bind us together and make each one of us a part of the other in a covenant with the same providence, and assure us that God was speaking to us when he said, “Hearken to my voice, for I will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Jer 7: 23).
Among the speakers who highlighted the call to the President to manifest a deeper faith in the nation’s human resource and to respect fundamental human realities was Pastor Reyzel Cayanan of the Baptist group Biblemode Youth.
Invest in a robust population; respect laws on marriage, life
“We are a young nation with a robust and vibrant population. This is our primary and ultimate resource, our basic and abiding strength. We only need to invest in it and develop it.
“We are a nation of believers, and that is a source of an even greater strength,” Cayanan continued.
“Contrary to the error insisted upon by the dogma of political correctness, faith and democracy can coexist, without one harming the other. For as Alexis de Tocqueville points out, ‘despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.’”
“We must reject the proposition that we could enact a law – any law – that removes the most fundamental area of human behavior, such as the intimate exercise of the procreative and unitive aspect of every marriage, from regulation of the moral law,” he said.
Eleanore Palabyab, M.D., president of Doctors for Life, asserted that the more serious kind of corruption than the kind on which the President’s campaign message is hinged—was the rejection of the laws of God and the twisting of moral principles merely to satisfy the dictates and whims of the flesh.
“Aming dalangin na maging malinaw sana sa ating Pangulo ang kanyang tungkulin na ipagtanggol ang buong katotohanan tungkol sa kabanalan ng pamilya, pag-aasawa at buhay,” Palabyab said.
Other speakers during the SSONA were former Congressman Bienvenido “Benny” Abante, former Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) chief Bro. Rolando Dizon, Soldiers of Christ elder Erlinda Arcadia, and World Youth Alliance Asia-Pacific (WYAAP) regional director Renelyn Tan.
Besides matters of life, family and marriage, also taken up during the over two-hour SSONA were the state of the economy, the poverty picture, the plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), peace and order, education, health care, environmental concerns, agrarian reform, foreign affairs, the fight against corruption, and electoral reforms.
The SSONA was preceded by a Eucharistic celebration at nearby Santuario de San Jose Parish. Officiating the mass was Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo together with other clergy; the homily was delivered by healing priest Fr. Fernando Suarez.
Various faith-based groups, socio-civic organizations and youth representatives marched from the church to Club Filipino, with some youth groups staging dynamic demonstrations of pro-life sentiments right outside the club. (Diana Uichanco)
Monday, July 18, 2011
The fight versus the RH Bill is not just a "Catholic thing"
An interesting news article from the Varsitarian (emphases mine):
Forty groups launch coalition vs RH bill
July 15, 6:35 p.m. - Religious and sociocivic organizations convened today to reaffirm their opposition to the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, with Congress set to resume sessions later this month.
Catholic, Baptist, and Muslim leaders, as well as non-government groups led by Pro-Life Philippines, have joined together to form the "Pro-Life Coalition" to ramp up opposition to the RH bill, which aims to channel billions of pesos in state funds to a massive birth-control program.
In a statement, coalition members said they would give their "unwavering support to all pro-poor programs of the present administration" but would "strongly oppose and vehemently resist all moves by any individual, group or institution to enact the RH Bill into law.”
“We fully stand behind more socially and morally relevant bills, like the Right to Information Act, that will significantly bolster the war against corruption in all levels of government,” said the statement, read by Baptist preacher Bienvenido Abante, a former Manila congressman.
“All the attempts to pass the bill are works not according to the will of God,” Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles said. “We must have an effort to preserve life in all aspects.”
Former Senator Francisco Tatad of the International Right to Life Federation challenged President Benigno S. Aquino III to protect the pro-life legacy of his mother, former president Corazon Aquino. “Many parts of the constitution are pro-life and it is because of late Cory Aquino,” Tatad said.
Tatad pointed out that 42 countries are already experiencing declining birth rates, and even Russia, whose population is on a decline, has recognized the errors of birth control.
“Birth control is not the essential component of marriage and politicians should recognize that demography affects the world," said Tatad, a former Varsitarian editor.
The press conference at Club Filipino in San Juan was held in line with the upcoming 43rd anniversary of Humanae Vitae, the papal document that reaffirmed the Catholic Church's teaching against artificial birth control.
The Pro-Life Coalition will hold a "People's Congress" on July 25 to call on lawmakers to junk the RH bill, on the same day as the President's state of the nation address. James Bryan J. Agustin
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