RH bill hardliners shouldn’t join informal TWG—lawmakers

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Wednesday shared a fellow lawmaker’s stand about hardliners on the controversial Reproductive Health Bill not participating in the informal technical working group (TWG) being formed to resolve contentious issues on the proposed measure.

He said he agreed with Parañaque City Representative Roilo Golez’s suggestion on Tuesday that hardliner pros and anti-lawmakers should voluntarily desist from partaking in the TWG’s discussions.

Iloilo Representative Janette Garin, a proponent of the RH Bill, said that the group will be composed of proponents, opposers, senators, members of the executive branch, and “reasonable” members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Golez, a known anti-RH hardliner, urged lawmakers who have “made hard-line positions” on House Bill 4244 to keep out of the TWG discussions which seek to find a middle ground in the highly-debated measure.

“Hardliners by experience find it extremely difficult to compromise,” Golez said.

In agreement, Belmonte said “We have to think of some breakthrough on this impasse. What is also essential is to mold the provisions of the bill as a vital poverty alleviation measure. After all, the fight against poverty is the bottom line of all our struggles today.”

Though the RH Bill has recently hurdled its period of debates, the House of Representatives has yet to open it to amendments. Lawmakers opposing the manner by which HB 4244’s period of debates was terminated have continued to question the issue—halting efforts to open the measure to amendments.