The Philippine Online Chronicles

“There’s that misconception that the President is pushing the RH bill entirely in the campaign. We have always been very consistent that his stand was always for responsible parenthood," Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

“The choice is left to the parents after they have all the available information given to them and they will make the choice according to their personal belief.”

Such statements make it appear that the President never made the Reproductive Health an important aspect to his "Commitment to Transformational Leadership" as stated in the Social Contract.

4. From treating health as just another area for political patronage to recognizing the advancement and protection of public health, which includes responsible parenthood, as key measures of good governance.

Responsible Parenthood coined from Reproductive Health

It was reproductive health bill from the start of his candidacy. Along the way, the term was changed to Responsible Parenthood to soften the position.

In response to my question “are you for the reproductive health bill (RH Bill)”, Noynoy called it responsible parenthood. His pro-RH reply was critical to a lot of supporters and those present in that interview were satisfied. If Noynoy was not pushing for the RH Bill, he should have said "No" to my question. If you listen closely to our interview, some elements of the RH Bill was mentioned in his responsible parenthood stand such as family planning , health concerns and sex education. Noynoy cited the constitution that we are obligated to protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them.

In the first video of Blog Watch interview he talks first about his idea of responsible parenthood based on informed choices.

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In the second video, Noynoy believed in age appropriate sex education because he personally experienced lack of information when he was faced with a question.

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Now , let’s examine the Reproductive Health stand culled by Inquirer and one can see the components of Responsible Parenthood (RP) such as

options and information to couples, both natural family planning and modern methods shall be presented.

The sex education curriculum should be morally sound, has to be derived from reliable sources and delivered by responsible educators.

Are we a  Church-run state?

I should not be surprised that President Aquino removed the Reproductive Health Bill from the 17 priority measures on February 7. His RH stand flip-flopped from an all out support to the Reproductive Health bill to a softer stand by coining it to Responsible Parenthood.

In sorties and media interviews shortly after his candidacy in late 2009, he declared that he wants contraceptives to be available in government health centers. His stand impressed a lot of RH advocates especially when he stated that “ couples should be free to choose the family planning method they prefer based on their conscience and beliefs”. He boldly added that the Catholic Church, which opposes the use of contraceptives, should not intervene in this government program.

At that time, it seemed that Noynoy was unaffected by criticisms from the Catholic Church and in his own words wanted to “follow his conscience”.

“I don’t care if the Catholic Church will abandon me because of my support for the ‘reproductive health’ bill. I cannot allow a church-run state. The church teaches me that I will follow my conscience. My conscience tells me that we have an overpopulation problem. I have to address it; we need to control the population. We must ensure full availability of contraceptives,” according to an October 2009 www.inquirer.net story quoting Aquino.

The soft stand started to show signs during the first ANC presidential forum and the January 2010 forum in De la Salle forum. Instead of his strong categorical statements in favor of making contraceptives available in all government hospitals, he believed the pending RH bill must be amended. He chose to use the more careful term “responsible parenthood” in explaining his policy on family planning.

Wasn’t it just last month that the president said that he will be presenting the Responsible Parenthood (RH) bill, together with 11 other priority bills to be chosen, to the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC)?

And now, the Palace spokesman says the President never really pushed the RH Bill? Come on, that was a campaign promise. How can the Aquino administration now deny this? If you will recall, the Social Weather Station (SWS) survey in January 2020 revealed that nearly four of 10 registered voters will vote for candidates who favor the Reproductive Health Bill, and only 6 percent will vote for those who oppose it. Elizabeth Angsioco, Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (DSWP) national chairperson, said “many women voted for Aquino because of his pro-reproductive health bill stance during the campaign”. She added that the “non-inclusion of the bill was a “betrayal" of the people who voted for Aquino in the May 10 elections.”

Social media reactions to the non-inclusion of the reproductive health bill in the government’s list of priority legislation ranged from disappointment to calling him a coward and that the real boss is the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Sen. Pia Cayetano says this move showed Aquino’s “indecisive leadership."

Kami ang boss, listen to us

He reneges on his campaign promise and the following day, denies that RH Bill was not pushed during his campaign.  Talk about being indecisive and in denial.  Who is really the boss? The handful members of the CBCP or the vast majority of the population? He has talked to the bishops twice and not once to RH advocates or women's group.

Nenita Migano of Caloocan City , a 49 year old, devout Catholic with five children implores to the president,“we are his bosses. He promised to listen to us. We call on him today to make true his promise. He should listen to us and not allow the bishops to unduly influence his decisions on matters related to our lives."

I really think the President should recite the same mantra he uttered before the Catholic Church started to intervene with his RH Policy and perhaps follow his conscience.

“I don’t care if the Catholic Church will abandon me because of my support for the ‘reproductive health’ bill. I cannot allow a church-run state. The church teaches me that I will follow my conscience.

Photo by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. Some rights reserved.