Palace eyes RH talks with bishops

Malacañang said it would wait and see how the new leadership of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) shapes up before making any move to seek another dialogue with the Church on the responsible parenthood policy of the Aquino administration.

The Palace was referring to the election of Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma who will begin his two-year presidency of the CBCP in December.

Palma, 61, was quoted in reports in April as calling advocates of the reproductive health (RH) bill “terrorists,” saying that condoms and abortion were tantamount to killing innocent babies.

The bishops elected Palma, the current CBCP vice president, after the incumbent president, Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar, reportedly decided not to seek a second term. It is a tradition in the CBCP that the vice president succeeds the president.

The local Catholic Church, led by the CBCP, has launched a ferocious campaign against the passage of the RH bill because it believes the measure would allow couples to gain easy access to condoms and other methods of contraception that it claims could cause abortions. They are also against the bill’s provision on compulsory sex education in schools.

President Aquino, on the other hand, had said he would stand his ground on the need for a reproductive health bill even if the Church excommunicates him.

Congress has yet to pass the RH bill.

“We will have to see what will be the frame of mind of the new leadership,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said on state-run radio dzRB, when asked if the Palace was open to reaching out to the new CBCP leadership for a dialogue on the controversial bill.

Valte reiterated that the Palace found it “unfortunate” that the CBCP had chosen to discontinue its dialogue with the Palace on the responsible parenthood policy.

President Aquino has said that he is against abortion but favors giving couples “the right to choose how best to manage their families.”

After several meetings with the Palace since last year, the bishops walked out of talks in May, saying that Mr. Aquino had apparently already made up his mind on his policy.

Valte on Sunday said the Palace was “always open” to continuing the dialogue with the bishops.

Asked about a recent CBCP statement on Pope Benedict’s call for Catholic bishops to continue their efforts in defending the value of human life as well as the sacredness of marriage and of the family, Valte said that such a statement was “expected” given that this was the stand of the Church.

“And we will not comment on why they released such a statement at this particular time,” Valte said.