Senate to tackle own version of RH bill Monday

The Senate will tackle its own version of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill on Monday, health and demography committee chairman Senator Pia Cayetano said on Friday. In a statement, Cayetano said that “it’s all systems go" for the chamber’s initial hearing on Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago's Senate Bill No.2378 or “An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health and Population and Development." Under Santiago's bill, the state shall guarantee universal access to medically safe, legal, affordable, and quality reproductive health services, methods, devices, supplies, and relevant information on the matter. “If we are seriously committed to eradicate poverty... then the issue of population cannot be ignored. Parents should be free to choose which form of family planning best suits them," the senator said in an earlier statement. She noted, however, that her bill does not "dictate" any form of population control and urged those against the bill to first hear them out. “Read the bill first. The bill is not pro-abortion; it is pro-life. It ensures that women who need care for post-abortion complications shall be treated and not left to die," she said. Cayetano said among those they have invited to discuss the bill are so-called prolife and prochoice groups, experts from the medical community, the academe, and heads of concerned government agencies. “The Catholic Church has the right to propagate its teachings to its flock but the state also has its duty to provide public health services, including reproductive health. I urge mutual respect from the contending camps and I hope both will agree to common provisions that will help legislators come up with a measure that is both comprehensive and responsive to our current needs," she said. Among the "prolife" resource speakers invited are: Catholic Bishops of the Philippines (CBCP) Commission on Family and Life chairman Archbishop Paciano Aniceto; CBCP legal counsel Jo Imbong; known RH critic and former Senator Francisco Tatad; Feny Tatad of the Bishops-Legislators Caucus; and Pro-Life Philippines president Eric Manalang. On the other hand, those invited from the "pro-choice" camp are: Reproductive Health Advocacy Network secretary-general Dr. Junice Melgar; Family Planning Organization of the Phils. president Roberto Ador; Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development executive director Ramon San Pascual; and a host of other non-government organizations. Cayetano said they have also invited Health Secretary Enrique Ona, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman, and Philippine Commission on Women executive secretary Emmeline Verzosa as representatives of the government. She also said that they have invited Philippine Obstetrics and Gynecological Society president Dr. Regta Pichay; Commission on Population executive director Tomas Osias; and National Economic and Development Authority director-general Cayetano Paderanga as experts in the issue. Aside from SB 2378, the health committee will also tackle Cayetano's Senate Resolution No.238, which seeks to look into the status of government efforts to reduce child mortality, maternal deaths, and incidents of HIV-AIDS in line with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Senate hearing will be jointly conducted with the committees on finance and youth, women, and family relations. - VVP, GMANews.TV