Senate to begin RH debates in August, says Miriam

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, author of the Senate's version of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, on Monday said the Senate will probably begin its debates on the controversial measure in August. Santiago said that since there are only two weeks left in the Senate session, the debates will probably have to wait until session resumes after President Benigno Aquino III's State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July. The Senate will adjourn sine die on June 9 and will resume session on July 25. Last week, Senator Pia Cayetano said the Senate health and demography committee will present and defend its version of the RH bill in plenary in two weeks. Cayetano said the Senate's version, based on Santiago's Senate Bill No. 2378, has undergone many revisions based on numerous hearings, consultations, and technical working groups conducted. Both Santiago and Cayetano have likewise committed to defend the bill in the Senate, just as what RH advocates have been doing at the House of Representatives. "We are willing to pass all possible hurdles placed in our way, because we are confident of final victory," Santiago said in a statement released Monday. She also noted that if the RH bill is passed in the House, the "political momentum" will be carried over to the Senate. "The senators will realize that the surveys are correct and the majority of the public support RH as part of every individual’s freedom of conscience," she said. But she said she doesn't mind if the Senate health committee would also hold a public hearing on the Senate bills separately filed by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, and Senators Ralph Recto and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., which seek to protect the life of unborn children. “We should proceed with all deliberate speed, because if we do not grant the oppositors a public hearing, they might resort to procedural technicalities which would delay the plenary debate," she said. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News