Ten Good Reasons to Pass the RH Bill Now

Posted Sat, 02/05/2011

In 1998, RH was a bland program that 2 DOH secretaries wished to mainstream into the health system. Now, RH or reproductive health is a byword that has gripped the public consciousness.

Time for Courage

Posted Mon, 12/12/2011

By: Walden Bello • Inquirer.net
One wishes that one could characterize the debate as a laudable exercise in democracy. It has become, instead, an exercise on how to use parliamentary procedures to derail democracy. The same questions have been repeatedly raised by the anti-RH interpellators, and it has become increasingly clear that, not having the votes to prevent the passage of the bill in the House, they have resorted to the equivalent of a filibuster to delay the bill from coming to a vote on the floor. ...

The debate in the House reminds this writer, a participant in the House debate, of the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” in Tennessee in 1925, where a schoolteacher named John Scopes was prosecuted for teaching the theory of evolution.  The trial evolved into a battle between fundamentalism and reason, with the controversial three-time Democratic candidate for president William Jennings Bryan leading the prosecution and the famed defense lawyer Clarence Darrow heading up the defense.   (The conflict was memorably captured in the film Inherit the Wind, with Frederic March playing Bryan and Spencer Tracy acting as Darrow.)

Primer on Legal Issues in Reproductive Rights by Four UP Law Professors

Posted Fri, 12/09/2011

Four professors from the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law recently released a "Primer on Legal Issues in Reproductive Rights." The four are Raul C. Pangalangan, Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan, Herminio Harry L. Roque, Jr. and Florin T. Hilbay. The primer tackles some of the most pressing and controversial legal issues in RH in a direct and simple question-and-answer format, conveniently divided into four areas: constitutional law, family law including women's and children's rights, international law, and the internationally protected right to health. Follow this link to read or download the primer.

Here are some excerpts to whet your appetite:

RHAN Never Pays RH Rally Participants

Posted Fri, 12/02/2011

The news report by Christian V. Esguerra (PDI, 2 December 2011) insinuated that the Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN) asked for funds to pay people to attend pro-RH rallies. This is totally false.

If, as reported by Esguerra, “each participant was supposed to receive P350”, then 1.75 million pesos “to organize a rally of ‘at least 5,000 people’” would fall too short since legitimate rally expenses are sizeable: whole-day rent of jeepneys, food and water for at least two meals per participant, sound system, streamers and placards. Any unbiased reporter would easily have established that payments for these expenses are not “received” by participants but are paid directly to jeepney drivers and suppliers of food and other rally materials.

Smaller families planned

Posted Thu, 11/24/2011

By Manini Sheker • The Guardian

The Philippines has a history of antipathy to contraception and a growing number of street children but, with the population expected to double over 30 years, attitudes are changing.

As dusk descends, the alleyways of Paradise, at the northern edge of Manila, are filled with the scattered laughter of street urchins, begging for money and rifling through the rubbish for scraps to ease their hunger.

"Paradise is a factory for [producing] children," says 37-year-old midwife Anna Miranda. "Their parents can no longer care for them."

Occupy for RH

Posted Sun, 11/20/2011

It has been ten years since the first RH Bill, and after countless debates and delays we are no closer to a vote. The democratic process has stalled at the hands of time-wasting legislators and bullying bishops.

With mounting frustration we remind our public servants that for every day they delay the vote, Filipino families around the country lose their mothers. The time for delay is over. The time for a vote is now.

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