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Rm. N-411, House of Representatives, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
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RH bill signed

Press Statements

 

  • Office of Rep. Edcel C. Lagman
  • Independent - Albay
  • 29 December 2012
  • 0916-6406741 / 0918-9120137

 

 

           With the President’s imprimatur on the enrolled copy of the RH bill, the arduous crusade for the enactment of a comprehensive and nationwide reproductive health law is over.

 

          After a 13-year gestation, the RH bill is finally delivered, signed and sealed.

 

          Unlike the rage and controversy which attended the congressional debates and approval of the measure, the bill was signed as Republic Act No. 10354 in the privacy of the President’s study room without the anticipated ceremony in order not to exacerbate the conflict with some Catholic bishops and start the reconciliation process to ensure widespread support in the implementation of the RH law.

 

          The President, with consistent resolve and unwavering zeal, signed the bill into law last Friday, 21 December 2012, the day after he received the enrolled bill.

 

           An enrolled bill is an authentic copy of a legislative measure signed by the Speaker and the Senate President as well as by the Secretary General of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate.

 

           The principal beneficiaries of the RH law are the country’s millions of women and children whose health will be protected and promoted as maternal and infant deaths radically decline as a result of voluntary family planning and contraception by choice.

 

           Women worldwide who have been anticipating the enactment of an RH law in the Philippines rejoice with the vast majority of Filipinos in celebrating the elevation of the bill into a statute.