Sotto cries foul over personal attacks in RH bill fight

MANILA, Philippines—Critics may not like his opinions, but Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III swears he’s no “iskul-bukol” when it comes to the issue of reproductive health.

Sotto  cried foul Saturday over personal attacks against him as a result of his vigorous efforts against the Senate Bill No. 2865, which seeks to establish a national RH framework and allow wider access to contraceptives.

Sotto, a member of the Senate for 12 years now, has been roundly ridiculed by supporters of the RH bill, especially via social media. He was occasionally portrayed as intellectually deficient going by his hosting job at the popular noontime show “Eat Bulaga” and general background as a comedian and musician.

“Ang alam lang kasi nila ‘Iskul Buko’ eh,” he told the Inquirer, referring the popular TV sitcom in the 80s wherein he starred with younger brother Vic Sotto and Joey De Leon. The term is also a Tagalog slang for a student who does not study but just bums around.

“When you are doing something right, expect to be attacked. If God is using you to do something right, expect to be attacked viciously! I am rejoicing!” he added.

For his critics’ information, he pointed out he was a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at the Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. He said he did so 11 years ago.

Sotto was also a vice mayor of Quezon City for four years and chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board from 2008 to 2009.

“I know that what I’m doing is right,” he said. “Once my critics come to their senses and realize the dangers lurking behind the RH bill, they will be sorry.”

Curiously, Senator Pia Cayetano, co-sponsor of the RH bill, also deplored what she claimed as “character assassination by association” allegedly being resorted to by Sotto during the plenary debates on the measure.

In a statement, she said the approach was “one of the tactics being employed by critics of the RH bill to demonize the measure and unfairly portray certain non-government organizations supporting the bill as ‘pro-abortion.’”

Last week, Sotto called attention to the  affiliation of local groups lobbying for the passage of the bill with international organizations openly advocating abortion.

The senator got the support of the group Filipinos for Life, which noted a local pro-RH organization’s supposed advocacy for abortion. It was referring to EnGenderRights, Inc., a member of the Reproductive Health Advocacy Network, an umbrella organization of RH advocates all over the Philippines.

Filipinos for Life cited a September 3, 2009 letter by EnGenderRights Inc. to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

In the letter, the group supposedly wanted the committee to ask the Philippine government questions like: “What measures are being taken to abolish criminal abortion laws and legalize abortion? What steps is the government taking to enact specific sexual and reproductive rights legislation? What steps is the government taking to enact specific divorce legislation?”

The Filipinos for Life said: “Again, the pro-RH solution is illogical. They say, ‘Abortion is rampant, therefore we should legalize it.’ Graft is rampant. Should we legalize plunder? Murder, rape are rampant. Should we legalize murder and rape?”