Don’t tolerate filibustering on RH Bill, House leaders urged

Rep. Roilo Golez. Photo from congress.gov.ph photo)

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers against the Reproductive Health Bill may have succeeded in halting developments on the proposed measure but those pushing for it urged the leaders of the House of Representatives on Friday to no longer tolerate such actions.

Asked to comment on Paranaque Rep. Roilo Golez’s statement that it was not the privilege speeches of anti-RH lawmakers which prevented the bill from being opened to amendments but the low attendance of pro-RH legislators on the floor, House deputy majority leader Janette Garin reiterated “palusot lang nila yan. We were just being polite first to Congressman (Dennis) Socrates then (Congressman) Rufus (Rodriguez) then the rest.”

It was Socrates, who represented Palawan in the House of Representatives, who insisted on Tuesday that he be granted the time for a privilege speech on the sudden change in the schedule of voting for the termination of House Bill 4244 debates. He said that it was unfair to many lawmakers who prepared to cast their votes on August 7 only to learn that it was moved to August 6.

Members of the House who voted through viva voce vote were split on allowing him to speak or not. The Palawan lawmaker’s request for a nominal voting, after failing to secure enough “aye” or yes votes through viva voce, was left hanging when session was adjourned.

“The next day we made it clear on the record that anti-responsible parenthood congressmen are filibustering, conveying to the leadership that this should not be tolerated anymore in the coming session days,” added Garin, one of the proponents of the bill.

She believes that lawmakers working in opposition to HB 4244 have stepped up their efforts to prevent amendments from being tackled because they “presumably got a ‘scolding’ from a powerful sector for allowing the debate to end.”