No RH talks before Aquino's trip to Japan

The much-awaited dialogue on reproductive health between the government and the Church will likely not take place this week as President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III already has several engagements, including one out of the country. In an ambush interview in Malacañang, Aquino said Presidential Management Staff head Julia Abad and Catholic leaders are still arranging the agenda, venue, and personalities who will be included in their dialogue on the controversial RH issue. Aquino is scheduled to go to Cebu on Wednesday to attend some activities related to tourism promotion. He is set to fly to Japan the next day for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. "I'm hoping to have a report by the time I get back from Japan. Sana we can move on in the dialogue, into the next stage yung mas formal," he said. Aquino is set to fly back to the Philippines on November 15 or 16. Aquino noted that the bishops present during their initial meeting last month said they would still have to consult with all members of the Catholics Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) so they can have a consensus on what should be discussed in the dialogue. Aquino said he has not changed his position on reproductive health, although he has yet to make a definitive stand on the RH bill pending in Congress. "I haven't changed my position. That is the only thing I can support. If it (RH bill) follows the repsonsible parenthood platform tht we're advocating then I'm supportive. If it goes beyond that then I would have to study it , how far beyond does it go," said the president. While Aquino has yet to voice his stand on the RH bill, the president said in September that the government "is obligated to inform everybody of their responsibility and their choices, at the end of the day government might provide assistance to those who are without means if they want to employ a particular method." Aquino had the same stand on RH during the campaign period. However, Aquino's comment in September earned the ire of the Catholic Church which promotes only natural family planning and is opposed to the use of artificial birth control methods such as condoms and birth-control pills. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said earlier in the day that Health Secretary Enrique Ona and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman will be part of the government group that will hold a dialogue with Catholic bishops. Earlier, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said they will consult with legal and medical experts for their upcoming dialogue with the government on the RH issue. Catholic leaders had earlier expressed displeasure over Aquino's stand on reproductive health. Congress on life and family Meanwhile, today is the final day of the 17th Asia-Pacific Congress on Faith, Life and Family, organized by Human Rights International (HLI) for Asia and Oceania, consisting of groups who oppose the RH bill. The congress, held at the Dusit Hotel in Makati City, was held from November 6 to 8. Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales presided over the Mass at 11:00 a.m. on Monday. CBCP chairman and Tandag bishop Nereo Odchimar and former Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal were also present during the Mass. Asked about his opposition to the RH bill, Vidal quoted the Bible, saying, "Thou shalt not kill." During the three-day congress, pro-life groups discussed plans about a nationwide campaign against the passage of the RH bill in Congress. (See related story: Pro-life groups to map anti-RH bill strategies in Congress.) According to a "Balitanghali" report on QTV, the groups said they will not be "confrontational" but will ready to debate with proponents of the RH bill as Congress prepares to open its session.
"If they really cared about women's lives, they would instead fund, not abortion and contraception, but attend to childbirth... This is the way to lower maternal mortality rate, with good prenatal care, [childbirths attended by] a doctor or a nurse or a midwife," argued Brian Clowes of HLI International. Meanwhile, Paranaque Rep. Roilo Golez scored the author of the bill, House minority leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman. "He has a problem. He [should] spend more time solving the problem in his own province instead of thinking that the problem is countrywide," Golez said of Lagman. Initial meeting between government and church Ona and Soliman were present during Aquino's initial meeting with bishops on October 12. Presidential Management Staff head Julia Abad, who will be the Church's point person in the government for future dialogues, was also present during the meeting. The Church leaders who were present were: Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Tandag, Surigao del Sur bishop Nereo Odchimar; Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal; Imus, Cavite bishop Luis Antonio "Chito" Tagle, and Cagayan de Oro archbishop Antonio Ledesma. Odchimar will be the government's point person in the Catholic church. 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 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." The reproductive health bill has been a contentious social issue in the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country. 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. 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. On the other hand, RH advocates say natural family planning methods are not as reliable as artificial means of birth control. 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). – with Jam Sisante, Larissa Mae Suarez, VVP, GMANews.TV