MANILA, Philippines?The Catholic Church is exercising a double standard by telling the people to choose the country's next leaders based on their conscience, but at the same time saying that they should not vote for those who support the reproductive health bill, according to Akbayan Representative Walden Bello.

Bello said the church should not blackmail the candidates who support the reproductive health bill by trying to sway their voters based on this issue, which has proven to be very contentious.

?On one hand [the CBCP] said vote according to your conscience. On the other hand, they said it's not moral to vote for people supportive of the reproductive health bill. There are double standards here,? Bello said in a press conference.

He called on his colleagues in the House of Representatives to tackle the measure despite the Church's opposition and its branding of the bill as morally reprehensible.

?What is morally reprehensible is to keep the reproductive rights of Filipinas at the mercy of the church's political opinion,? he said in a separate statement.

?Does it sit well with our conscience that families are condemned to poverty owing to the lack of means for effective family planning? Or that there are rising numbers of people infected by sexually transmitted diseases due to the lack of decent information?? he added.

Bello also lamented that the precious hours of the House's few session days before the start of the official campaign period had been devoted to a bill that is going nowhere, specifically the measure to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.

He said the BNPP bill, which has also met with opposition on the floor, has no bright future since it does not even have a Senate counterpart.

Thus, the House should discuss the reproductive health bill since it has been tackled in three congresses already.

?As congress, we must assert our independence from the church's opinion and maintain the fine secular line between the functions of the church and the state,? he said.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, another supporter of the reproductive health bill, earlier said he would block other pet measures, such as those calling for a constitutional convention and imposing new taxes, if the reproductive health bill is not taken up.

The reproductive health bill seeks to increase the promotion of both natural and artificial birth control methods through government programs.

The Catholic Church hierarchy has opposed the measure, saying it promotes the use of abortifacients.