- Office of Minority Leader Edcel C. Lagman
- Principal Author of HB No. 96
- 0916-6406737 / 0918-9120137
- Official Website: http://www.edcellagman.com.ph
-
30 November 2010
The most recent Pulse Asia survey revealing that 69% of Filipinos favor the passage of a reproductive health law exposes the dwindling influence of the Catholic hierarchy when it comes to persuading the faithful to eschew modern methods of family planning.
Despite the Catholic hierarchy’s all-out campaign against the bill and its branding of all modern methods of family planning as “intrinsically evil”, support for the RH bill has even risen by six percentage points from 63% supporting its passage into law in January 2009 to the present 69%.
Not only did nationwide support for the bill increase, the opposition to it also decreased from 8% in January 2009 to 7% in Pulse Asia’s survey in October 2010.
The people have spoken yet again. They do not only approve of the passage of the RH bill, 79% recognize the right of women and couples to decide for themselves which family planning method is best suited to them; 70% agree that all forms of family planning methods should be promoted; and 55% agree that government funds must be used to support modern family planning methods.
The authors of the RH bills pending before the Congress welcome this development. But this is no surprise. Almost two decades of surveys by the Pulse Asia and the SWS document that (1) an overwhelming majority of Filipinos, principally Catholics, favor the enactment of the RH bill; (2) government must spend for the purchase and distribution of contraceptives to acceptors; and (3) government must promote all methods of family planning.
Based on the Pulse Asia survey, even a majority of those who disagreed, endorsed the following provisions of the RH bill:
· Recognizing the rights of women and couples to choose the family planning method that they want on the basis of their needs and personal and religious beliefs;
· Promoting information about and access to natural and modern family planning methods; and
· Stipulating the use of government funds to support modern family planning methods.
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Pulse: 69% favor RH bill
Support for measure up 6 percentage points
By TJ Burgonio, Norman Bordadora
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:08:00 12/01/2010
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20101201-306256/Pulse-69-favor-RH-bill
Solons divided over RH bill survey
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 17:58:00 11/30/2010
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