CBCP: UP group holds 'silent protest' vs RH bill

A group of University of the Philippines (UP) students held a silent protest against the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said. The protest of the group "UP against RH" coincided with a pro-RH activity in the UP campus on July 1. UP Against RH is a group composed of students and faculty. Members of the "UP against RH" marched wearing red shirts and released red balloons into the air to express their opposition to the RH bill. Red is the color selected by Catholic officials as a symbol of their anti-RH stand. According to an article on the CBCP news site, the students tied red ribbons around trees and lamp posts and placed "No to RH bill" stickers in some parts of the campus. Culture of death? John Juat, a senior student who took part in the protest, said "The whole RH bill [leads to] a culture of death." Juat, 21, questioned the measure's "mandated sex education" component and the promotion of contraceptives. The Catholic Church accepts only natural family planning while the RH bill promotes both natural and artificial methods of contraception. Juat said freedom and the availability of choices are good, "but if you're giving too much freedom, it can be dangerous." "In a multiple choice exam, the more choices you have, the more chances of getting a mistake. There's only one correct answer," he said. "Now, there's only one correct answer [regarding the issue] and that correct answer is already within all of us - our values which have been taught to us by our parents since we were young," he added. While the freedom to choose is good, Juat said not all choices are good. Juat said he was a little intimidated by the idea of joining the balloon walk at first, but an incident that happened before the activity made him change his mind. "It just started with one person approaching me, saying she has the same stand but is scared to speak up," Juan said. "Some who are pro-RH even approached me and said, 'I never looked at things the way you did. I thought what society was offering was the only way, but I think the option you stated is much better.'" Thinking "critically" "If you're in UP (University of the Philippines) you're trained to be critical thinkers..." said Jove Tercero, also a senior student. He was unable to take part in the "red balloon walk" but spent the past days preparing the materials for the protest activity. Tercero said he was initially pro-RH which is "somewhat the default stand" on the issue, he said. Tercero said he assumed contraception was a positive thing due to belief in the overpopulation myth. However, "by reading and being more oriented with serious facts," Tercero said he chose to be anti-RH. - VVP, GMA News