Discussions on the proposed Reproductive Health Bill, its goals and objectives are being brought to the grassroots level by three former cabinet members, two of them health secretaries.

Dr. Esperanza Cabral and Dr. Alberto Romualdez and former DENR Secretary Angel Alcala and Likhaan executive director Dr. Junice Melgar, were in Silliman University last week to speak on the controversial RH bill before students, reproductive health rights advocates, medical doctors, women’s groups and government leaders.

Cabral said they want to reach as many people as they can to correct any misinformation about the proposed bill.

She said it was important that President Benigno Aquino III had already expressed his views to make the RH bill a priority measure and that the President had also participated in making the proposed bill acceptable to the majority.

She said there is the need to balance the risks versus the benefits of a medical procedure in order to decide what contraceptive to use. Dr Cabral further said there is no medicine or procedure that is perfectly safe, even aspirin or water. However, the chances of having side effects is so little compared to the benefits of taking medicines.

Romualdez said it is unfortunate that a handful of Bishops do not want to talk about anything except saying No to the RH bill and that a few politicians also follow the bishops’ line, in spite of the proposed amendments offered by the President in his dialog with a group of businessmen who are identified with the bishops.

Romualdez said the Catholic church position on this particular issue is limited to the conservative members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, but not all of them.

Cabral and Romualdez said that out of 48 predominantly catholic countries, only six are without RH policies, and one of them is the Philippines. 

Alcala brought out the concern for the balance between population and the environment that he said is due to the depletion of fish as a result of over exploitation of marine resources. Alcala wants this to be highlighted in the RH bill.

Alcala pointed out that tight now, the bio mass of the stock of fish resources along the coastal areas is hardly 10 percent of what it used to be 50 years ago. If the run-away population growth is not addressed, the imbalance will continue and will put the fishery sector in a very bad situation, he said.

The activity was coordinated by Dr. Ma. Lourdes Ursos of the Silliman University Medical School.*JG

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