Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, the father of the Reproductive Health Law, filed H.B. No. 5170 seeking the repeal of the “archaic” Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code in memory of Carlos Celdran, a fellow RH advocate.
Lagman underscored that Celdran died a freeman because the Supreme Court failed to resolve with finality his latest pending motion for reconsideration of his improvident conviction of “wounding religious feelings”.
The significant reduction in maternal and infant mortality in the Philippines as reported by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is partly attributable to the passage and implementation of the Reproductive Health Act since December 2012 according to Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, the principal author of the RH Law or RA 10354.
The UNICEF-led United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation report showed that infant mortality in the country decreased by almost half in 2018 or 40 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 22 deaths in 2018. More Filipino children have also survived past five years old, with deaths dropping to 63,000 in 2018 from 113,000 in 1990.
Whether or not to allow the entry of a foreign national to a country’s territory is the latter’s unlimited sole prerogative.
The action of a panel of the United States Senate to legislate denial of entry to any Philippine official involved in the incarceration of Senator Leila De Lima is an enforcement of American immigration laws and does not intrude into Philippine sovereignty.
Martial law derogates democracy with widespread repression and curtailment of civil liberties instead of “saving democracy”.
It is a tool to arrogate power and impose military rule for contrived excuses.
In order to foreclose the abuses of a martial law regime, the 1987 Constitution mandates the following limitations and safeguards on the imposition of martial law and the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus:
The Duterte Administration’s rejection of loans and grants from the countries which co-sponsored and/or voted in favor of the Iceland-led resolution to probe the human rights situation in the Philippines is inordinately ill-advised.
The resolution dated 11 July 2019, which was passed by a majority of the members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which cast categorical votes with 18 for and 14 against, requested the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights “to prepare a comprehensive written report on the situation of human rights in the Philippines.”
