MANILA, Philippines -- Lawmakers pushing the reproductive health bill used the lack of a quorum to defer the budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and said it was their way of giving Secretary Jose Atienza, a critic of the measure, a ?dose of [his] own medicine.?

"We are giving them a dose of their own medicine," said Akbayan Representative Liza Hontiveros, a co-author of House Bill 5043, which advocates the use of contraceptives to curb population growth.

It was Hontiveros who moved to defer the DENR budget during the hearing of the House subcommittee studying the agency?s proposed 2009 appropriation. Hontiverso also grilled Atienza, who is a staunch advocate of natural family planning, the only method approved by the Catholic church.

Iloilo Representative Janeth Garin, another coauthor of the controversial measure, justified the deferment, saying since they have been consistently prevented from pushing through with floor debates on the RH bill for lack of quorum, they should apply the same standards to subcommittee hearings.

Hontiveros said she doubts Atienza's claim his personal stand on birth control was also that of the whole DENR.

"He should conduct a consultation with the employees of the department. I bet it would surprise him that, like many Catholic Filipinos, reproductive health has strong support even in his own backyard," said Hontiveros in a statement.

"What's frustrating is that Secretary Atienza claimed that as environment secretary, he is protecting the environment in order to support the needs of the country's growing population. Never has environmental protection been so misused for sectarian reasons," she said.