The Reproductive Health (RH) bill has yet to get off the ground in Congress and already the country is facing another battle between Church and State over a proposed divorce bill.
This development came after the largely Catholic Republic of Malta submitted in a non-binding referendum a proposed bill to legalize divorce and the results were overwhelming; the Maltans want divorce despite the adamant opposition of their Church.
The Malta government plans to submit the referendum to its parliament where it will deliberate whether or not to legalize divorce.
The vote for divorce in Malta can perhaps be attributed to the country’s Catholic Church deciding not to campaign actively against the referendum though it issued a pastoral warning against its faithful that divorce will result in the breakdown of their society’s moral values.
The same cannot be said in the Philippines where the Catholic Church, particularly in Cebu, the cradle of Christianity, is fighting tooth and nail against the Aquino administration to stop the RH bill from being passed into law.
The divorce bill, which is mostly being championed by women’s and militant groups, is still a long way off but the Malta referendum bears watching and may even fuel debate on this longstanding issue.
A key ingredient in both the RH and divorce bills is the possibility that both issues can be submitted in a referendum similar to what is conducted in Malta. The referendum can be binding or non-binding.
the Catholic Church would perhaps insist that it be non-binding so as to account for the possibility that the people may vote for divorce and thus delay the fight to Congress, where they feel they have a greater chance of lobbying against it.
In light of the broiling RH bill fight, it is fair to ask whether a referendum could settle the debate for a population control program and by extension divorce once and for all.
A people’s referendum is usually seen as a last resort owing to the perception that Filipinos usually entrust the burden of making and enforcing policies to its elected leaders and rarely, if ever, directly participate in policy making.
One can debate endlessly about the pros and cons of these twin bills whose importance hits at the very heart of the government’s efforts to ensure the country’s social and economic survival.
Perhaps it’s time to submit such issues directly to the people.
Let government and the Church engage in their best campaign to win the public’s hearts and minds, and let the people decide directly. Trust in the people’s collective will and wisdom.