Instead of grading President Benigno Aquino III on his first 100 days in office, I suggest standards on how to assess the President’s performance now and for the rest of his term:
1. Ability, agility and alacrity in responding to a crisis situation and its aftermath;
2. Existence, substance and viability of the Aquino administration’s legislative agenda;
3. Adequacy and import of the President’s policy prioritizations and budgetary allocations in the National Expenditure Program (NEP);
4. Choice of presidential appointees on the basis of qualification, experience and integrity;
5. Capacity to confront the present and plan the future, instead of perpetually complaining about the past and castigating predecessors;
6. Response to criticisms and critics;
7. Decisiveness of actions and judiciousness in resolving options;
8. Statesmanship over partisanship;
9. Sincerity and credibility over bare propaganda and populist pronouncements; and
10. Resoluteness in confronting and solving the population issue without fear or favor.
The call of bishops for civil disobedience could turn into religious defiance as Catholics may opt to continue and escalate their support for the enactment of a nationwide and comprehensive reproductive health law which is health-oriented, rights-based and development-driven.
This eventuality would further embarrass the Catholic hierarchy following its desistance from excommunicating President Benigno Aquino III for his stand on voluntary contraceptive use.
Two decades of surveys by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia document that the vast majority of Filipinos who are predominantly Catholic, want that the RH bill be passed and government allocate public funds for the procurement and distribution of contraceptives to family planning acceptors.
In its latest national survey, SWS revealed that 71% of Filipinos are in favor of the RH bill and 76% agree that there should be a law requiring government to teach family planning to the youth.
Catholics have also spoken and according to the SWS, 68% of Catholics believe that government should distribute free contraceptives to those who want them. Ironically, more Catholics (71%) favor the passage of the RH bill versus non-Catholics (68%).
Pulse Asia also disclosed that a whopping 93% of Filipinos consider it important to have the ability to plan their families; 82% believe government should teach couples about all methods of family planning; and another 82% of Filipinos say that it is the government’s duty to provide the people with knowledge, services, and materials on all methods of family planning.
It should also be underscored that contraceptives cannot in any way be labeled abortifacients. In a paper submitted to the House of Representatives, the Department of Reproductive Health and Research of the WHO categorically stated that “contraceptives are not abortifacients.” Research by the Allan Guttmacher Institute also shows that contraceptive use reduces abortion rates by 85%.
Moreover, contraceptives save the lives of mothers and children. Both the WHO and the UNFPA have asserted that “one in three deaths relating to pregnancy and childbirth could be avoided if women who wanted to use contraception could access it.”
Studies conducted by the WHO have also concluded that helping women plan their families through regular and proper use of modern contraceptives can help prevent one million infant and child deaths annually worldwide.
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Solon warns Church of loss of support on RH bill
By Leila B. Salaverria, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 00:51:00 10/05/2010
The criminal complaint of the Archdiocese of Manila which caused the prolonged detention of RH activist Carlos Celdran in a police cell smacks of intolerance and unchristian conduct by the Catholic hierarchy.
It is stretching too far the church’s opposition to the reproductive health bill because the ejection of Celdran from the Manila Cathedral premises was sufficient and his incarceration at the time when prosecutory and judicial offices were closed was unnecessary and unwarranted.
Celdran is being charged with violation of Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code on “Offending the religious feelings”, which is of an archaic and colonial vestige.
Celdran’s display of a placard on which was written the name “DAMASO” is an apt reminder to Church officials of the abuses and inequities of the clergy during the Spanish colonial regime when the Church wantonly interfered in secular activities and dictated on civilian authorities.
The message of Celdran is that “Father Damasos” have survived the Spanish era and continue to bedevil government up to today.
The protest of Celdran is even of a lesser degree than the clergy’s using the pulpit to repeatedly lambast and defame RH advocates in lieu of a homily on the gospel for the day, which malicious tirades also offend the religious feelings of the faithful who go to church to participate in a solemn mass.
The threat of excommunication against President Benigno Aquino III for endorsing voluntary contraceptive use is an antediluvian method of compelling adherence to Church doctrines.
The imposition of excommunication contradicts the Church’s principle on free will and defies freedom of informed choice which is the central advocacy of the reproductive health bill.
If the basis for excommunication is the distribution and use of contraceptives, then the Church will lose its congregation since a great majority of Catholics favor the enactment of an RH law and the government’s funding the procurement and distribution of contraceptives to willing acceptors of family planning.
Millions of Filipino Catholics will be candidates for excommunication under this policy of the Church even as Ateneo University professors maintain that people can be good Catholics even if they use contraceptives.
Contraceptives which are “legal, medically-safe and effective” as prescribed in the RH bill are not abortifacients.
Contraceptives prevent ovulation and/or fertilization so much so that there is no embryo or fetus to be aborted.
Contrary to the claims of its critics, the RH bill is definitely pro-life because studies conducted by the UNFPA and WHO all conclude that correct and consistent use of contraceptives can reduce maternal deaths by one-third. It is also anti-abortion since research by the Allan Guttmacher Institute shows that contraceptive use reduces abortion rates by 85%.
Minority Leader Edcel C. Lagman underscored the need to enact soonest a comprehensive, rights-based, health-oriented and development-driven reproductive health law because “there is definitely more to family planning than pills and condoms because RH saves lives.”
“The Church can continue on its mission to save souls but the State must pursue unhampered a program which reduces maternal and infant mortality in the secular realm.” Lagman stated.
Lagman clarified that House Bill No. 96 on Reproductive Health and Population and Development is primarily a health measure. “It will promote maternal and infant health even as it will help prevent the deaths of thousands of mothers and babies annually,” he said.
In the Philippines, 11 mothers die daily and the lifetime risk of maternal death in the country is 1 in 140, compared to 1 in 8,000 for women in developed countries. RH advocates maintain that universal access to reproductive health information and services will help improve overall health and reduce poverty.
“Studies by the WHO, UNDP and UNFPA confirm that correct and consistent use of contraceptives will prevent one-third of all maternal deaths,” Lagman said. He also stressed that virtually all or 98% of maternal deaths happen in developing countries like the Philippines.
In its State of the World’s Children Report way back in 1992, the UNICEF also 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.”
The Albay solon explained that family planning will have a direct effect on maternal mortality by reducing the number of high-risk pregnancies. “Family planning will help women who are at a higher risk of maternal death avoid unplanned pregnancies,” he said.
He added that the RH bill will also most definitely help lower the incidence of abortion by preventing unplanned, mistimed and unwanted pregnancies which are the ones being terminated though induced abortion. Moreover, he said that research by the Allan Guttmacher Institute shows that contraceptive use reduces abortion rates by 85%.
