Surveys to decide Senate vote on RH bill

MANILA, Philippines—Surveys, more than President Benigno Aquino III’s endorsement, will influence how the senators will vote on the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill, senators said on Thursday.

Sen. Joker Arroyo said that some senators, like him, were open-minded about the bill, and would only decide after listening to their colleagues debate the pros and cons.

“This is going to be nonpartisan,” Arroyo said, indicating that Mr. Aquino’s political influence would have little impact except on his allies in the Liberal Party.

Only a few senators have so far come out openly either to back or oppose the population control measure which has yet to be debated on the Senate floor, unlike in the House of Representatives where the debate has begun.

Interestingly, the upper chamber’s leaders—Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III and President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada—had served notice that they were opposed to the bill.

Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Pia Cayetano, Edgardo Angara and Panfilo Lacson favor the measure.

Santiago, author of the measure, agreed that there was no clear dividing line yet between senators favoring or opposing the bill.

“Most senators will not commit at this time because they want to wait for developments in public opinion. What for example are the media reports or, if there are surveys on the subject, what the results are will influence them,” she said in an interview.

“Remember senators are political creatures. They will react to what they feel is the public pulse. If they felt for purposes of the 2013 election that it would be necessary to vote in favor of RH, that’s what they’ll do,” she added.

Cayetano, chair of the health committee, is expected to sponsor the panel report on the bill before Congress adjourns on June 8. Debates could begin after the start of the second regular session of the 15th Congress in late July.

Compromise bill

Arroyo said he would listen to the debates and watch out if a “compromise bill” could emerge in view of the public wrangling between some Catholic bishops and the pro-RH proponents.

“The words are getting stronger which is not healthy. I want to listen because there might be a compromise acceptable to all,” he said.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said that he too would sift through the bill and listen to arguments.

Trillanes has strong reservations about the mandatory sex education for children in Grade 5. He believes the appropriate level for the teaching of such a “sensitive subject” would be senior high school.

“We have to look at it section by section,” he told reporters.

Lacson, author of one of the RH bills in the Senate, promised to scrutinize contraceptives that would be allowed in the country, in the event that a consolidated version of the bills is tackled by senators in plenary.

Describing himself as “prolife,” Lacson said he was particularly cautious about allowing “morning after pills,” even with an expert certification from abroad that they do not induce abortion.

“Whenever there is already a probability of life, we always assume in favor of life,” he told reporters in Filipino, noting that such pills are taken to deal with a previous act of sexual intercourse. “They say it’s Plan B, meaning for emergency.”

Risks women face

PiLaKK, a federation of youth and women organizations, urged legislators to pass the RH bill, citing, among others, the dangers women in poor communities face without the legislation in place.

“Many life-threatening conditions begin from the reproductive system and require RH services and care that are integrated with the health system. Among these are maternal and child health, family planning, care for postabortion complications, infertility and other gynaecologic conditions, sexually transmitted infections especially HIV and AIDS, cancers, and other conditions related to sexuality,” the group said in a statement. With reports from Christian V. Esguerra and Kristine Felisse Mangunay