Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez. Photo from congress.gov.ph photo
The vote that Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez never cast drew suspicion among prolife groups.
A senior Liberal Party leader and known opponent of the reproductive health (RH) bill, Golez was present on the floor and even introduced amendments before House Bill No. 4244 was put to a voice vote at 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday. But he was registered “absent” during the voting.
“He was a disappointment last night after evading a principled stand against the RH bill. He became a standard-bearer of political expediency and political cowardice. Shame on them,” said John Carlo de los Reyes, president of Ang Kapatiran, a lay Catholic political party.
Golez claimed that he opted to “walk out” because of the “party order to vote for RH.”
“I defied the party order by walking out. I would rather die than vote for RH,” Golez told the Inquirer. Christian Esguerra