RH bill deliberations: Lawmakers asked not to use nominal voting

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The main proponent of the Reproductive Health Bill on Monday night urged fellow lawmakers to stop abusing the nominal voting method as they considered individual amendments for the measure.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, who led in deliberations on proposed amendments to the 27-page substitute version of House Bill 4244, appealed to legislators not to abuse nominal voting as part of their strategy to delay the measure’s developments.

Cebu Representative Pablo Garcia and Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez suggested amendments line by line on initial sections of the proposed measure, usually suggesting upon rejection of their proposed changes that the plenary conduct nominal voting.

Among the amendments Garcia proposed for Section 2 of the substitute bill was to insert a constitutional provision wherein the State shall protect the mother and the unborn, to delete the term “universal” on reproductive health being a universal human right, and to replace “all persons” with “married persons” in terms of the beneficiaries of the RH Bill.

Lagman allowed the term “universal” to be taken out but nominal voting on Garcia’s proposed amendment which limits the RH Bill to married couples was rejected after getting 75 affirmative and 91 negative votes.

Session was suspended after voting ended at 9:53 p.m.

Rodriguez had earlier vowed to insert “killer amendments” in the RH Bill which Lagman said he would reject.