Senate panels endorse RH bill for plenary

After gathering signatures from 20 senators, the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill has finally been endorsed for plenary approval. A radio dzBB report said that 20 senators have signed Committee Report No. 49, which was prepared by the Senate committees on finance, health and demography, and youth, women and family relations. The signatories included committee chairperson Sen. Pia Cayetano, Edgardo Angara,Teofisto Guingona III, Ferdinand “Bongbong" Marcos Jr, and Serge Osmena. The report was also signed by Francis “Kiko" Pangilinan, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Joker Arroyo, Panfilo “Ping" Lacson, and Jose “Jinggoy" Estrada. Those who signed with reservations were Franklin Drilon, Gregorio Honasan, Antonio Trillanes IV, Lito Lapid, Francis “Chiz" Escudero, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Ramon “Bong" Revilla Jr, and Ralph Recto. Those who included their dissenting opinions were Vicente “Tito" Sotto III and Pia's brother, fellow Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano. Pia earlier said that the measure needed the signatures of a majority of the three committees involved before it can be officially filed as a committee report and eventually be brought to the plenary for interpellation and a vote. The radio report said that the committee report will be endorsed before the plenary either Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday. Debates for the measure's adoption or rejection will take place in July, the report added. The committee report contained the consolidated version released on Monday. The version is a consolidation of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago's Senate bill 2378, Sen. Panfilo Lacson's Senate bill 2738, and Senate resolution 238. At the House of Representatives, the RH bill is being discussed in plenary. Essential medicines Cayetano said that the Senate's RH bill seeks to "provide information and access, without bias, to all methods of family planning which have been proven safe and effective in accordance with scientific and evidence-based medical standards such as those set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and registered and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)." The proposed Senate measure specifically states that legal and effective family planning supplies like hormonal contraceptives, intrauterine devices, and injectables shall be included in the government's list of essential medicines purchased by national and local hospitals, provincial, city, and municipal health offices. But to ensure the safety of contaceptives, the measure said the FDA shall be required to issue strict guidelines with respect to their use, taking into consideration side effects or other harmful effects. It likewise does not amend the penal law on abortion but mandates the government to ensure that all women with post-abortion complications be treated and counseled in a "humane, non-judgmental and compassionate manner." It also says that local government units and the Department of Health shall be required to employ an "adequate" number of midwives and other skilled health professionals for maternal health care and skilled birth attendance. Under the measure, the government shall also be required to "equip" each parent with the necessary information in order to determine their ideal family size. The state shall likewise be required to provide "age- and development-appropriate" reproductive health education to students. The bill says the amount needed to implement the act shall be sourced from the funds in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA) for reproductive health and natural and artificial family planning under the DOH and other agencies. Cayetano said she did not specify the age appropriate for health education and the funds needed to implement the act because she wants the Senate to determine that as a whole. — TJD, GMA News