RH bill at House drags on
Lawmakers at session hall for RH Bill debates voting.
MANILA, Philippines — It is still unclear exactly when the Reproductive Health Bill will be tackled and put to a vote by lawmakers, one of its proponents said on Tuesday.
Iloilo Representative Janette Garin said at present the House leadership is in talks with legislators opposing House Bill 4244 despite the release of a revised version of the proposed measure.
She said Deputy Speaker Pablo Garcia, Batangas Representative Hermilando Mandanas and Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez have been insisting the revised version of the RH Bill be sent back to the committee level.
A group partly composed of the House leadership and critics of HB 4244 was ironing out the process by which the bill would be tackled, said Garin.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Monday urged anti-RH lawmakers to allow the bill to be voted on at the very least.
He said that the new version of the bill should be considered as it was crafted with the concerns of HB 4244’s critics in mind.
The recently released version prioritizes the poorest households in the country for the distribution of reproductive health care services. It also only promotes services and family planning methods that do not prevent the “implantation of the fertilized ovum.”
Aside from its proponents, the new version is also being pushed by several female lawmakers who deemed it “acceptable.”
Pangasinan Representative Kimi Cojuangco, Malabon Representative Josephine Lacson-Noel, Manila Representative Rosenda Ann Ocampo, Diwa Party-list Representative Emmeline Aglipay, Kalinga Party-list Representative Abigail Faye Ferriol, and Ambis-Owa Party-list Representative Sharon Garin have joined hands in their call to put to a vote the new version of the RH Bill.
And while Gabriela Party-list Representative Luz Ilagan is still uncertain on her take on the new version of the RH Bill, she too believes that the lower chamber of the 15th Congress ought to finish the bill’s period of amendments before Christmas break.
