Palace: Review of RH bill not Aquino's priority

Malacañang said it is not yet certain whether President Benigno Simeon Aquino III would certify as urgent the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill because reviewing the measure is not on top of the President's priority list. In a press briefing on Friday, Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the president has yet to review House Bill 96, which espouses both natural and artificial birth control methods, because Aquino is focused on assessing the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) report on the August 23 hostage crisis first. "We need to see the RH bill first," Lacierda said. "While the position of th president is clear on responsible parenthood, in fairness to the executive branch we will yet to see the present RH bill so from there the president will be able to make a decision as to does he have any concerns, does he support [it]. Those are the things he will be able to answer once he reviews the RH bill." "Right now the priority is the IIRC, once that is settled we will ask the president his other priorities as well," he said. House Speaker Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte Jr. said on Wednesday that he will ask the president to certify the RH bill as urgent because Aquino has gone public on his stance supporting informed choice in family planning. "I think it's ok to ask the President, to request him if he can certify that (RH bill). Anyway he has bitten the bullet already," Belmonte said. The Catholic church once again criticized Aquino for his position on the controversial issue after he stated in a meeting with a Filipino community in San Francisco that the government may provide assistance to couples who have been properly informed about their family planning and reproductive health choices. The Catholic church, which only supports natural family planning methods, is vehemently against the passage of the RH bill and has threatened to lead a civil disobedience campaign if Congress passes the measure. Aquino, however, appears unfazed by the Church's opposition, even when the head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) hinted on Thursday that excommunicating Aquino for his position is a possibility but not a "proximate possibility." Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar, head of the CBCP, later clarified that "while the prevailing sentiment of a number of bishops was that of dismay and frustration over the reported stance of the President regarding artificial contraceptives, imposition of the canonical sanction has not been contemplated by the CBCP." When asked whether Malacañang prefers that the Church keep its hands off the issue, Lacierda said "there are certain moral dimensions to the issue of the RH bill and certainly you cannot stop them from doing so." "But again as we all know the president is the president not only of Roman Catholics but of other faiths as well so he has to be above faith(s). Responsible parenthood is something which is I believe favorable to all members of all faiths," said the Palace spokesman. It is estimated that 80 percent of the country's population are baptized Catholics. According to the National Statistics Office, there were 88.57 million Filipinos as of August 2007. The projected population for 2010 is 94.01 million. The Catholic Church promotes only natural family planning and is opposed to the use of artificial birth control methods such as condoms and birth-control pills, saying these could lead to promiscuity and a rise in abortion cases. However, not all Catholics completely share the Church's position. A survey conducted last year showed six out of 10 Filipinos favored the passage of the RH bill in the Congress then, while eight out of 10 believe the government should not only educate couples on family planning but also provide them with services and materials. –VVP, GMANews.TV