Church-led rally vs population bill kicks off at Quirino Grandstand

MANILA, Philippines—Despite the heat, thousands of the Catholic faithful trooped to the Quirino Grandstand Friday to attend and reiterate their stand against the reproductive health bill.

As early as 2 p.m., some 6,000 faithful from as far as Laguna gathered at the grandstand for a prayer rally—dubbed “Filipinos! United Under God for Life”— organized by the Catholic Church.

Organizers expect the crowd to swell by 7 p.m., when Manila archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales is scheduled to celebrate a Mass.

To pass the time, the crowd chanted “Obey God’s will. No to RH bill,” and said the rosary.

Rhodora Emping, 56, of Binangonan, Rizal, who was a member of the contingent of the diocese in her area, maintained that she was against the RH bill because government funds that could be used for uplifting the economy by addressing poverty would be used instead to purchase contraceptives.

“The RH bill does not go by the Lord’s teachings. The funds to be allocated for that should be used for providing jobs to the poor. It will also breed immorality,” she said.

For her part, Maricris Celorio, 47, of Makati City, said that she joined the rally not only because she was against the bill but also to pray for the disaster-stricken people in Japan and three Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking and facing execution in China on March 30.

Celorio pointed out that the RH bill is unnecessary and stressed that the youth’s curiosity about sex would only be aroused.

She said she has been married for five years and bore only one child without the use of contraceptives. “That should be proof that it can be done through self-control,” she said.