Friday, July 18, 2008
House ‘welcomes’ critics of bill
THE House Joint Committees on Health and Population and Family Relations will deliberate on the consolidated House Bill on Reproductive Health either on July 29 or 30.
Rep. Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th district) said he was waiting for a copy of the position paper from Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer, country director of Human Life International-Pilipinas.
Bullecer is among those opposing the passage of the bill.
Salimbangon said the House welcomes critics of the measure and wants them to present their arguments during the plenary hearing in the coming weeks.
He said he wants an “intelligent discussion” in the House plenary so that both parties will be enlightened on the issue.
Salimbangon refused to comment further on the issue, saying he would rather concentrate on giving development projects to his constituents in the fourth district, especially those affected by the typhoon.
“Anti-God”
Over the weekend, Bullecer tagged Salimbangon and Rep. Nerrisa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, 6th district) as “anti-life and anti-God” for joining more than 30 legislators pushing for the passage of the bill.
Human Life coined the term “deaths” to describe bills that, according to the group, will enable divorce, euthanasia, abortion, total population control, homosexual union and sex education.
Bullecer had said the Catholic Church would be declaring an “all-out war against these bills.”
In Cebu City Hall, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he will not let any religion dictate what the City Government should do on reproductive health programs.
Osmeña said he is everybody’s mayor, not just of the Catholics. He said he will respect everyone’s right to know about reproductive health and available family planning methods.
Stance
“And remember that I’m a practicing Catholic, but my job is not Catholic. My job is to be mayor of everybody,” he told reporters yesterday.
“And I don’t believe my religion should dictate how I should run this office,” Osmeña continued.
His job, he said, is to implement whatever law will be passed.
Osmeña warned against making rules of certain religions part of governance, which he said caused wars and disorder in some countries.
In his news conference, he said that one of the principles he stands by is that in a democracy, the majority rules, but the minority also has rights that should be respected.
“I don’t believe that religious doctrines should be injected into government. The right to know is part of the Bill of Rights, so why would you keep people from knowing what their options are?” the mayor said.
Osmeña said he also supports proposals to teach sex education as early as grade five so students can be properly guided by their teachers on matters related to their sexuality and reproductive health.
Besides, he said, even if sex education is not taught in schools, the students are bound to learn about it outside the school, without the guidance of either their teachers or parents.
“I think they should teach that (sex), then let the church say ‘don’t do it’, but I don’t think government should keep them ignorant,” Osmeña added. (GMD/LCR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 18, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here. |
