BAGUIO CITY?A Catholic priest has set off a rumpus when he urged churchgoers during his homily to leave if they were supporters of the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill.

The remarks made by Fr. Jose Vernon ?JV? Ilano while he was celebrating Mass last week were recorded by a churchgoer on a mobile phone. The recording found its way to the local ABS-CBN Baguio television network.

Ilano spoke out against the RH proponents during a noon Mass he celebrated on April 10 at the Baguio Cathedral. He mentioned former Akbayan party-list lawmaker Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel?who was neither in the church nor in Baguio at the time?as among the measure?s supporters.

ABS-CBN in a report on its website quoted the priest as saying in a mix of Filipino and English: ?If there is anyone in the Mass here who are pro-RH bill?please, go out. It?s useless.?

?What is this Mass for if you are pro-RH bill? What is going to Church for if you?re pro-RH bill?? Ilano was also quoted as saying.

It was not known if any of the churchgoers actually left the cathedral.

Giving God bad name

Baraquel, who said she was in Manila at the time, decried Ilano?s remarks.

?Priests like him give God a bad name,? Baraquel told the Inquirer on the phone Wednesday.

She said Church officials should not exclude the faithful just because they happened to have a different opinion on an issue.

?I thought they wanted people to go to Mass,? she said.

She also said the Church should not ignore the stand of many Catholics in the Philippines who, she said, favored the reproductive health bill.

Asked about reports that the priest had apologized to her for what he had said, Baraquel said that if that was true, she would accept his apology.

Church consensus

Baguio Bishop Carlito Cenzon defended Ilano, saying the priest was fighting a ?life-or-death? cause mounted by the Roman Catholic Church. Ilano, who is assigned to the San Pablo Seminary here, used to serve in the Diocese of Laoag in Ilocos Norte.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Cenzon said Ilano might have angered people but the consensus of the Catholic Bishops? Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) was to make public church concerns against the ?anti-conception? principles espoused by House Bill No. 4244.

Lawmakers supporting HB 4244 are ?creating an anti-conception mentality? because the measure encourages people to prevent births by means of condoms and IUD (intrauterine device), ?which is preventing the creation of life,? Cenzon said.

?He was simply saying that if you [support] the RH bill, then you may leave before [he] completes [his] homily so you won?t waste your time? He may have triggered animosity in the crowd. That is normal when you make a stand like that and it?s [a hard stance],? said Cenzon.

High stakes

?His personal style was to do it hard and fast. It was, ?Take it or leave it,?? the bishop added.

Cenzon said Ilano might have erred when he named the people he was criticizing, like Baraquel, during his homily. But he also said Baraquel ?need not take offense,? pointing out that ?what is at stake is life or death.?

Other RH bill advocates said Ilano abused the power of the pulpit.

?What he did was wrong,? Benjamin de Leon, president of the nongovernment Forum for Family Planning and Development, said in a text message.

?[It was a] cowardly act. He owes [Baraquel] an apology.?

Twitter critics

Ilano?s remarks sparked mixed comments on the social network Twitter.

User @iamNikkoS said in Filipino that ?he should not have been a priest,? while @marzrueda said: ?Unbelievable.?

?Not even Jesus/God would tell anyone to leave their home,? said @vcsporrazzo.

Twitter user @hazeljoysia said in Filipino: ?They should be the ones encouraging people to go to church and worship God. Why are they now the ones driving people out of the church. What happened??

But Ilano had a defender in @OgoIco, who said: ?I wish all priests do d same. Its good 4d cause of reason.?

Supporters of the measure have rejected Church contentions that the bill would, among others, promote abortion. President Benigno Aquino III has said he favors a reproductive health measure but has not fully spelled out what version he is in favor of. With Inquirer Research