CBCP official: Civil disobedience a moral option

An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said civil disobedience is a moral option that the Church is considering should the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill be passed into law. CBCP Secretary General Msgr. Juanito Figura said “The Catholic Church in the Philippines can do that if it decides to do that because for one thing, civil disobedience is a moral option, one of the moral options." In an article posted on the CBCP website, Figura said civil allegiance is the respect given by the people to the state and the laws of the state. However, if a law is against Christian teachings, Catholics are not bound to obey that particular law, he explained. “According to Church principles, we should do that (civil allegiance) but according to the same Church principles, if a law or a state policy is against Christian teachings, persons, Christians, Catholics are not bound by conscience to obey that," he said. He said bishops and priests have the moral authority to teach and lead their flock based on Church teachings. “When a law or state policy or state program is not in consonance with what the faith teaches so from that perspective, if the local church in the Philippines or the hierarchy in the Philippines decide to call for disobedience because of this possibility of enacting the controversial Reproductive Health bill and the distribution of artificial contraceptives the bishops would have a moral reason to do that," he added. Figura said if the RH bill is passed into law, “the Catholic Church in the Philippines can do that (civil disobedience) if it decides to do that because for one thing, civil disobedience is a moral option, one of the moral options." Liaison between the Church and the government Still, Figura said the Church remains open to having a dialogue with the government over the RH issue. He cited media reports saying the government is preparing for a dialogue with the church. However, the CBCP has not yet received any call or letter from the Office of the President about a dialogue, he said. On Saturday, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III told reporters that efforts are under way for a dialogue with the Church on the RH issue. Aquino said he hoped the dialogue will result in some consensus. However, Figura said “we have not received any communication so far." He mentioned that the previous administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had a liaison officer, presidential assistant on media and ecclesiastical affairs Conrado Limcaoco Jr. who was in constant touch with the CBCP secretariat. He said he is not sure if the present administration of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III “would appoint somebody to the position." Call for civil disobedience made only once Meanwhile, CBCP Media Director Msgr. Pedro Quitorio said in the 65-year history of CBCP, the Church called for civil disobedience only once “Since the CBCP was established in 1945 until today there was just a single event that called for civil disobedience and this was after the February 7, 1986 snap elections," Quitorio said. However, Quitorio explained that the actual civil disobedience did not take place because it was “overtaken" by events related to the downfall of the late President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. Quitorio emphasized that the CBCP has not called for any mass action so far over the RH issue. Prepare for mass actions Meanwhile, Lipa (Batangas) Archbishop Ramon Arguelles called on his flock to prepare to mobilize the laity for mass actions against the RH bill and all population control measures. Arguelles said they are in solidarity with lay members of the archdiocese of Cebu who expressed their readiness to protest against the RH issue. RH bill 96 Several versions of the RH bill have been filed in previous congresses. In the present Congress, the RH bill is known as "Bill 96" whose main proponent is Minority Leader Edcel Lagman of Albay. The RH bill is based on the premise that the country's population growth impedes economic development and exacerbates poverty. The bill seeks to “guarantee to universal access to medically-safe, legal, affordable and quality reproductive health care services, methods, devices, supplies and relevant information." The bill also seeks a “consistent and coherent national population policy," citing studies that show that "rapid population growth exacerbates poverty while poverty spawns rapid population growth." Contentious issue The RH bill has been a very contentious social issue in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country, because the Catholic Church promotes only natural family planning methods. RH advocates, however, claim that natural family planning methods are not as reliable as artificial means of birth control. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, 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. 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. However, not all Catholics are against the RH bill. In an earlier report, Ben De Leon, president of the Philippine Center for Population and Development, which organized the recent Women Deliver conference, some members of the CBCP have expressed their support in the RH Bill but not publicly. End contraceptive mentality CBCP President Nereo Odchimar earlier said the government must protect the sanctity of life by putting an end to contraceptive mentality. Odchimar said the bishops hope the Aquino administration will not pursue programs that promote the use of contraceptives such as condoms and pills. The Catholic Church accepts only natural family planning (NFP) methods. The NFP has two distinct forms: * Ecological breastfeeding (a form of child care that normally spaces babies about two years apart on the average), and * Systematic NFP (a system that uses a woman’s signs of fertility to determine the fertile and infertile times of her cycle). –VVP, GMANews.TV