PNoy hoping bishops will resume talks on RP bill

President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday expressed hope that the bishops of the country’s powerful Roman Catholic Church will still change their minds and continue their dialogue with Malacañang on the responsible parenthood (RP) bill. “We are still hoping that we can get back to a dialogue, if it indeed they have stopped the dialogue, so we can input their points and see if we can come up with something that everybody can live with and can be happy with," the President told reporters. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines announced on Monday it has suspended talks with Malacañang on the RP bill. (See: CBCP suspends dialogues with Palace on RH bill) Aquino said that since there are those who are in favor of the reproductive health (RH) bill, recently recast as the RP bill, and there are those against, it is his role as President to “get both parties to come to a law that everybody can live with." He earlier said that the RP bill being pushed by Palace is the middle ground between the controversial RH bill, which advocates artificial contraceptives, and the Catholic Church’s stand that favors only natural family planning. (See: Aquino: RP bill is middle-ground between Church and RH bill) In a press briefing earlier in the day, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said they hold a meeting with the advocates of RH bill that had been set some two weeks ago in response to the concerns of other stakeholders apart from Church leaders. Those who will meet with the RH advocates are Presidential Management Staff chief Julia Abad, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, and Health Secretary Enrique Ona—the same Cabinet-level officials meeting with the bishops. Asked if the inputs of the RH advocates will be included in the RP bill, Lacierda said they will see first the result of the dialogue. He added that despite the pullout of Catholic bishops from the talks, Malacañang will continue with the drafting of the RP bill while “taking into consideration the inputs that we have already gotten from the first two sessions of the dialogue [with the CBCP]." Lacierda reiterated that the Aquino administration’s stand is to give access to information and not to violate a person’s conscience and choice with respect to concerns about family planning as well as the sacredness of human life from conception. Meanwhile, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said Tuesday she considers the present standoff between Malacañang and the CBCP on the controversial RH bill as a possible test case about what she describes as the "potential voting power" of the Catholic Church in the next elections. "We’ll see if the politicians will be so wary of confronting the Catholic church in the light of the next elections or their own reelections that they will step backwards and completely ignore the prodding of the advocates of the RH bill. Therefore, we will in effect gauge the political power of the Catholic church in this country," Santiago said.—Amita O. Legaspi/JV, GMANews.TV