With love for sex, Miriam defends RH bill on floor

MANILA, Philippines—Using an anecdote that showed her apparent love for sex, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Thursday stood up on the Senate floor on Monday to defend the controversial Reproductive Health bill.

“I remember when I was immigration commissioner, I was asked if I was frightened of all the death threats and I said no, I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid to die but I am afraid that there might be no sex after death,” she said, which elicited laughter from the jampacked gallery.

“I have thought and thought about the matter and I’ve reached (the) conclusion that yes, there is sex after death but you can’t feel anything,” Santiago added.

Santiago is the principal author of Senate Bill No. 2865 known as an “An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health and Population and Development.”

In her sponsorship speech on the bill, the senator pointed out the “overwhelming” support for the bill in the country based on various nationwide surveys

“In our country, the Catholic Church is the only major religion that opposes the RH bill,” she said.

Other major Christian churches and organizations, Santiago said, have officially endorsed the RH bill like the Interfaith Partnership for the Promotion of Responsible Parenthood, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, the Iglesia ni Cristo and thePhilippine Council of Evangelical Churches.

“Despite these surveys, certain Catholics, notably certain bishops, seem poised to fight to the death the RH bill,” the senator said.