House needs to decide on fate of RH bill—Belmonte

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said on Friday it’s about time lawmakers finally decided on whether they would continue discussions on the much-debated Reproductive Health Bill.

Set for plenary votes on August 7 on whether the period of interpellation and debates should continue or be terminated, Belmonte urged members of the House of Representatives to cast their votes on the proposed measure and “let the chips fall where they may.”

“If the vote is in favor of terminating the debates then the period of amendments follow and put to a vote for passage on second reading. If the vote is against termination of the debates then it is back to plenary interpellation,” said Belmonte.

If lawmakers choose to terminate the period of debates, the bill will go through a period of amendments before finally being voted on for its second reading.

Lawmakers would like to tackle the RH Bill before they begin discussing by August the 2013 national budget.