{"id":241749,"date":"2012-08-03T01:30:18","date_gmt":"2012-08-02T17:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=241749"},"modified":"2012-08-03T01:30:18","modified_gmt":"2012-08-02T17:30:18","slug":"rh-backers-dont-fear-catholic-vote-in-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/241749\/rh-backers-dont-fear-catholic-vote-in-2013","title":{"rendered":"RH backers: Don\u2019t fear Catholic vote in 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo AP PHOTO<\/p><\/div>\n

But is it right for the Church to welcome former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is facing criminal charges, to join its campaign against the reproductive health (RH) bill?<\/p>\n\n

This question was raised Thursday after representatives of women\u2019s groups, academics and students supporting the RH bill called on lawmakers not to fear the so-called Catholic vote in the 2013 elections because majority of Filipinos supported the measure.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWhat is the morality in turning your back and forgiving the corruption of the former administration to bargain for [votes against] the reproductive health bill?\u201d Sylvia Estrada Claudio, director of the University of the Philippines\u2019 Center for Women\u2019s studies, said in a forum organized by pro-RH supporters.<\/p>\n\n

Arroyo, who is now a Pampanga representative, has declared that she would vote against the bill, and soon after, seven lawmakers affiliated with her withdrew support for the measure ahead of a critical vote on August 7 to extricate the bill from endless debates and move action on it forward.<\/p>\n\n

Arroyo is out on a P1-million bail on election sabotage charges for which she had been detained in a hospital for eight months.<\/p>\n\n

Claudio urged the Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) not to turn a blind eye to\u00a0 the \u201ccold, hard, concrete facts\u201d presented by academics, scientists and researchers that too many poor women were dying because of\u00a0 lack of access to contraceptives and proper reproductive health care.<\/p>\n\n

Appalling insensitivity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

A statement from academicians from UP and Ateneo de Manila University lambasted the CBCP for \u201cacting in a morally questionable way\u201d and showing \u201can appalling insensitivity to the suffering and death of Filipino women.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Former Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros slammed Arroyo for attempting to turn the August 7 event as a vote of no-confidence against the Aquino administration.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cShe wants to recover her political clout,\u201d Hontiveros said, adding that Arroyo\u2019s entry into the fray could be a \u201ckiss of death\u201d for the Church initiative.<\/p>\n\n

During the opening of budget deliberations in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas tackled the importance of the \u201cdemographic sweet spot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Responding to a question by Para\u00f1aque Representative Roilo Golez, he described this as a \u201cspot where you have a good convergence of very robust economic growth and low inflation rate.\u201d He said the economy grew by 6.4 percent in the first quarter but with an inflation rate of 3 percent. \u201cIn the past, it\u2019s one way or the other\u2014either we have a very high economic growth or a very high inflation or vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Guinigundo acknowledged that the country\u2019s young population\u2014set at a median age of 22.2\u2014could be attributed to \u201cmore babies being born than people dying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThat can be one factor,\u201d he said. \u201cThe challenge remains with the public sector to provide the infrastructure, the job opportunities so that we would be able to leverage on the existence of our young population (to) provide a very productive labor force, at the same time, an expanded market for our goods and services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Guinigundo said domestic demand was particularly important \u201cat this point where external markets are not doing that well and therefore our exports have limited viability today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201cBut if we have domestic demand that is robust\u2014as one can see because of the young population, because of the inflow of those overseas remittances, investments have been going up\u2014these are what will drive economic growth,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Senators back bill<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Also on Thursday, Senator Panfilo Lacson accused the Catholic Church of engaging in disinformation from the pulpit. \u201cWhen I hear Mass, I hear their clear disinformation that abortion is allowed under the RH bill,\u201d Lacson told reporters. He said abortion would not only remain illegal, penalty would also be increased.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about time this is put to a vote,\u201d Lacson said. He said the majority of the senators supported the bill and that surveys had shown that 65 to 75 percent of Filipinos favored the measure.<\/p>\n\n

Patricia Gomez, president of the 60,000-strong Integrated Midwives Association of the Philippines, said, \u201cThe keyword is planning, planning your family according to your means.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Gomez, who was close to tears during an interview, said it was tragic to see poor Filipino women with six or seven children coming to their centers.\u00a0 A lot of the women could not even take care of themselves or eat three times a day, she said.<\/p>\n\n

Last June, the Department of Health said the mortality rate for Filipino mothers had increased to 221 per 100,000 live births in 2011 from 162 per 100,000 live births in 2009. Under the United Nations\u2019 Millennium Development Goals, the global set of targets for reducing poverty, the Philippines must lower the maternal mortality rate to 52 per 100,000 live births. With reports from Christian V. Esguerra, Norman Bordadora and Kristine L. Alave<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But is it right for the Church to welcome former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is facing criminal charges, to join its campaign against the reproductive health (RH) bill?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":239641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[481,36,34,37,45],"tags":[206083,49,124,52,250,211,1399,512,549],"byline":[68],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRH backers: Don\u2019t fear Catholic vote in 2013 | Inquirer 黑料社<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"But is it right for the Church to welcome former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is facing criminal charges, to join its campaign against the reproductive health (RH) bill?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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