Church reps walk out of Senate hearing on RH bill

MANILA, Philippines - Claiming their presence was futile, Catholic Church representatives walked out of a hearing on the Senate version of the reproductive health (RH) bill Thursday. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said early Friday that the Catholic Church representatives claimed there was "blatant disregard" of their concerns. "They are not listening because they always disregard our side about the bill authored by Sen. Rodolfo Biazon ... They were already talking about amending the bill assuming that we are not opposed to it," Fr. Melvin Castro, CBCP Episcopal Commission on Family and Life executive secretary, said in an article on the CBCP website. He said supporters of the bill were ramming the draft of the bill like "traditional politicians." Castro added they were invited to the hearing to make it appear that a public consultation was made "but they are not listening to us." The walkout came less than a week after a Social Weather Stations survey showed that 86 percent of Manila residents favor having a law on reproductive health, and 62 percent think the Church is meddling. Castro said his group only wants to be thorough about the bill and make sure that it will not threaten the sanctity of life and the family. He said the Senate version of the RH bill is almost the same as that of the pending HB 5043 in Congress. According to him, church representatives looked forward to the event to voice out the church's opposition to legislate a population-control bill. But he said the Senate subcommittee rejected their rights to analyze or at least comment or suggest amendments and motions to approve or disapprove some parts of the bill. "What happened today was really disappointing," Castro said. Castro said they were to hold a press conference at the CBCP office in Intramuros, Manila, at 10 a.m. Friday to air their opposition against the Senate version of the RH bill. - GMANews.TV