Philippines birth control
bill nears final approval

MANILA – Lawmakers drew up the final version of a landmark birth control bill yesterday that is likely to be signed into law by President Benigno Aquino despite bitter opposition from the Catholic Church.

The bill which would make sex education and contraceptives more widely available to the poor was passed by both houses of parliament this week after being blocked for more than a decade by the politically influential Church.

The bill's final version, likely to be approved by both houses before being sent to Aquino, retained key provisions that would empower women and allow "couples to freely and responsibly determine the number and spacing of their children", said Edcel Lagman, who initiated the legislation.

‘2012, deadly year for
journalists worldwide'

NEW YORK – The year 2012 is likely to be one of the deadliest for journalists around the world, with at least 67 killed so far while doing their jobs, a US-based media rights group said yesterday.

A Paris-based group meanwhile put the number of those killed at 88.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the number of deaths is up 42 percent from last year, due in large part to the Syria conflict, shootings in Somalia, violence in Pakistan and killings of reporters in Brazil.

"With 67 journalists killed in direct relation to their work by mid-December, 2012 is on track to become one of the deadliest years since CPJ began keeping detailed records in 1992," the committee said.

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