MANILA, Philippines--Now a "full-time" promoter of the population control bill, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman strongly denied on Sunday allegations that he has been making money out of his so-called advocacy.

"That's totally devoid of any basis!" he thundered in a phone interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Lagman said there was no truth to allegations that he and other supporters of the measure were fronting for foreign institutions seeking to establish a highly lucrative contraceptives market in the Philippines.

The idea allegedly begins with a national policy for "reproductive health," a move that would purportedly lead to the legalization of abortion, as was the trend in many countries in the West.

While interpellating Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros several sessions ago, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, a protestant bishop, asked the "pro-choice" lawmaker whether that bill she was promoting was in fact copied from similar measures being introduced elsewhere in the world. Hontiveros said it was not.

Abante's question drew context from the alleged American strategy of pushing for a uniform population control bill in third-world countries like the Philippines, partly for economic motives.

Lagman invited critics to examine the political leanings of the bill's principal authors. He said he and his group were all "nationalist," an attitude purportedly shown in their campaign for the Cheaper Medicines Law.

"We fought all these multinational companies for the Cheaper Medicines Law," he said. "So how can we collaborate with them now?"

Lagman said he has been devoting more time for his population control bill after stepping down as chairman of the committee on appropriations. He will be replaced by Quirino Rep. Junie Cua as part of a term-sharing agreement at the start of the 14th Congress.

During his stint with the powerful committee, Lagman successfully worked for the allocation of P2 billion for reproductive health programs in the 2008 national budget.

He said the amount was still unused, just like the P150 million allocation for the same purpose in the annual budget the year before. He said the government would need another P2 billion in the 2009 budget to implement the initial phases of the bill.

Lagman's campaign for a population control bill runs parallel to similar efforts by a number of local government units such as Quezon City.

He described them as "cooperative partners," while denying allegations that these LGUs were foot soldiers in a "back door" effort for a population control bill.

Lagman said both the national and local governments have been working simultaneously for a reproductive health policy, but admitted that the strategy was "not a perfect one."

"We still need a national policy that is comprehensive in scope and adequately funded," he said.