DESPITE the heavy downpour, “pro-life” advocates gathered yesterday afternoon to rally support against the Reproductive Health Bill.
The Sto. Niño Pilgrim Center was surrounded by Cebuano faithful clad in red, which signifies their pro-life stance and their opposition to other measures like the pending divorce bill and the same sex marriage proposition.
In his Mass, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma reminded the Cebuano flock to uphold Christian values and to sustain Cebu as a stronghold against the controversial bill.
“In Cebu, religion can’t be put in a corner. We are the cradle of Christianity and God is the center of our life and our discussions,” Palma told 2,000 supporters who attended the rally.
Palma proudly announced that nine of the lawmakers in Cebu opposed the RH bill.
He said convergence of Catholic groups should be done as a declaration that majority of the Filipinos are opposed to the RH bill. “This is our declaration that we value life, the natural life from womb to tomb,” he said.
Palma said it is also the right of the parents to explain to their children the sex education.
He said the country’s strong religious roots cannot stomach same sex marriage as it opposed the values of the church.
“(For example) Man and man can’t be married because it is only for the man and woman,” he said.
Former Manila City mayor Lito Atienza, a convenor of the National Coalition Family and Life, encouraged the Cebuanos to continue their strong campaign against the passage of the RH bill. “As long as there are Cebuanos like you, then we will never fail,” he said in his speech.
Lawyer Romulo Macalintal, representing the National Coalition Family and Life described the bill as “a total deception intended to destroy life.” Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya