• Rep. Edcel C. Lagman
• Independent – Albay
• 17 December 2012
• 0916-6406737 / 0918-9120137

 

 

MERITS OF THE RH BILL

JUSTIFY ITS PASSAGE

 

              The inherent merit of the RH bill was its badge for passage and the Presidential certification was the assurance for its approval.

 

             While the certification by the President of the necessity for immediate enactment of the RH bill sealed its enactment, the intrinsic merit of the measure and its laudable objectives galvanized legislators’ support and justified the Presidential endorsement.

 

           Being meritorious, relevant and necessary, the bill did not only receive the support of the executive and legislative departments, but primarily of the Filipino people, both adults and adolescents, Catholics and non-Catholics, rich and poor, entrepreneurs and workers, as well as the academe and the marketplace.

 

            Who could successfully argue against the bill’s hallmark of informed choice where there is neither compulsion nor reward for a couple’s or woman’s decision?

 

           Who could refute the valid observation that a runaway population growth rate aggravates the problems besetting healthcare, education, food security, employment, mass housing and the environment?

 

           Who could negate the truism that the enactment of the RH bill will help the country approximate its commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly on the improvement of maternal health, reduction of infant mortality, attainment of universal primary education and eradication of extreme hunger and poverty?

 

             Who could debunk the empirical verity on the linkage between population and human development as one of the guiding principles of the bill?

 

             Who could dispute that mandatory reproductive health and sexuality education among the young will not breed sex maniacs but would instill in them proper sexual values, discourage early entry into sexual relations, promote abstinence before marriage, avoid multiple sexual partners and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases?

 

            Who could rebut that the correct and consistent use of contraceptives will reduce abortion rates by as high as 85% because high risk and unwanted pregnancies, which are the ones aborted, will be prevented?

 

            Who could contest decades of medical research validating that contraceptives are not abortifacients and do not compromise a woman’s health any more than ordinary drugs and medicines?

 

        Who could oppose that family planning is more cost-effective compared to multi-billion mega projects of government with less beneficiaries? UNICEF has asserted that “family planning could bring more benefits to more people at less cost than any other single technology now available to the human race.”