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Palace: RH, RP bills not among Aquino's priority measures


Contrary to what was announced earlier, the controversial reproductive health (RH) and the responsible parenthood (RP) bills will not be among the list of measures that President Benigno Simeon Aquino III will be asking Congress to expedite. At a briefing in Malacañang on Monday, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said 17 bills will be presented to the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting on February 28. These bills will not include the RH and RP bills and the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill, Lacierda said. He said the Palace still has to meet with the Catholic bishops on the RP bill at the end of the month. The bill thus cannot be included in the LEDAC meeting agenda. “As you know we still have a dialogue with the bishops on the end of February. We committed to propose a responsible parenthood bill with inputs from the dialogue," he said. “Since the dialogue will be on the last week of February that will not be included in the LEDAC so we will finalize first the meeting with bishops," he added. “The President will limit his power to certify measures as urgent based on what is stated in the Constitution. It refers only to emergency cases. So most likely, (the RP bill) will not be certified as urgent," Lacierda said. In January, Aquino himself announced that the RP bill will be one of the priority measures of his administration. Asked if Malacañang gave in to the position of the Church against the RH bill, Lacierda said they did not but they want to listen to the side of the religious sector. The CBCP supports only natural family planning methods and opposes the RH bill as it promotes artificial contraceptives which the Catholic Church deems as "abortifacients" or can cause abortion. He said the Palace will not introduce the bill until after they are finished with the dialogue. He further said the RP bill will be presented to the Congress this year but it will not be part of the measures they will present before the LEDAC. FOI bill On the FOI bill, Lacierda said the President is still studying the sensitive issues surrounding it. “There are certain issues on FOI bill. Number 1, the President believes in the constitutional right to access information, that is given. However, there are certain concerns that must be addressed, yun medyo sensitive at pinag-aaralan," Lacierda said. Created in 1992 under Republic Act 7640, the advisory council or LEDAC is composed of the President as chairman, the Vice President, the Senate President, the House Speaker, seven Cabinet members, three senators, three House members, and one representative each from the local government, the youth, and the private sector. As a consultative and advisory body, the LEDAC helps the President integrate his legislative agenda with the national development plan, among others. The LEDAC is supposed to convene quarterly. The upcoming LEDAC meeting will be Aquino's first as President even though he has been in office for seven months. – VVP, GMA News

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