RH bill as campaign issue

The pronouncement by former Akbayan partylist Rep. Risa Hontiveros that she will be supported by Cebu CIty congressional candidate Raul del Mar in her Senate bid next year  proves yet again how politics makes strange bedfellows.

In a press conference last Friday, Hontiveros said the veteran congressman pledged to deliver Cebu City votes for her candidacy. That would be a feat indeed, considering that Hontiveros  and her party are on opposite sides with del Mar and other Cebu legislators in the Reproductive Health (RH) bill act.

Her pronouncement may sound strange to those unfamiliar with the political landscape of Cebu City until they hear the personal stand of Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district, founder of the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK).

In a previous statement, Osmeña said while he agrees with  the RH bill, he would stay away from voting and deliberations in order not to alienate close  allies like del Mar.

In any case, the LP senatorial slate is filled with candidates who have divergent views on the RH bill which will remain in the Congress radar until early next year prior to the elections.

The expression of support from big business only followed the lead taken by business leader Manny Pangilinan which has only bolstered the campaign to approve the RH bill even with the staunchest opposition from the Catholic Church.

Compared to the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill which President Aquino and some of his allies have been lackadaisal in their support, the RH bill has a bigger than average chance of being put to vote in the remaining session days of  Congress.

Del Mar and Hontiveros have come out with statements regarding the so-called numbers on their respective sides for or against the bill. Anyone is free to speculate who’s more accurate but at this juncture even with business support, it’s still anyone’s ballgame.

The Church may be especially resentful of rendering the RH war as anything but a numbers game, let alone a basketball game or any other game in general but with the President leading the charge the final battleground is still  in Congress.

There is the Supreme Court and with all justices being Catholics, the Church can swing the debate back to Congress but it’s all just deliberations until the RH bill officially becomes a law.

Which brings us back to the question of whether a compromise RH bill can be hammered out that’s agreeable to all sides of the debate.

Let  deliberations continue but we ask that Congress finalize the bill before the start of the elections lest it become a political issue that would polarize voters  into choosing those who side with the Church rather than those they deem worthy of assuming public office.