{"id":1914,"date":"2013-01-03T07:04:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-03T07:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/"},"modified":"2013-01-03T07:04:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-03T07:04:00","slug":"philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippines Catholics pledge to defeat backers of RH bill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Manila, Philippines, Jan 3, 2013 \/ 12:04 am (CNA<\/a>).- Philippines Catholics have strongly criticized President Benigno Aquino III for signing a controversial \u201creproductive health\u201d bill, vowing to oust supporters of the legislation in the country's 2013 elections. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe will exhaust all legal remedies to fight this unjust, unethical and anti-poor and anti-life law,\u201d said Dr. Ricardo Boncan, a spokesman for the Catholic Vote Philippines alliance.<\/p>\n

\tHe said the president's decision to sign the bill in secret Dec. 21 was \u201chighly dishonorable and unprincipled,\u201d citing the president's prior statement indicating he would not sign it before Christmas.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis, to us, has been the hallmark of his presidency, deception and dictatorial,\u201d Boncan said, according to the Philippines Inquirer.<\/p>\n

\tThe legislation requires government-sanctioned sex education for adults, middle school and high school students, as well as a population control program that includes fully subsidized contraceptives under government health insurance. It requires health care workers to refer for the drugs even if they have religious and moral objections.<\/p>\n

\tOpponents of the bill warned that it would contribute to a breakdown of the family, strengthen a contraceptive mentality and advance sexual immorality. They also voiced concerns over the health risks posed by artificial birth control and the potential of some contraceptives to cause early abortions.<\/p>\n

\tOn Dec. 17 the Philippines House of Representatives approved the legislation by a vote of 133-79 with seven abstentions, while the Senate passed it by a 13-8 vote with two abstentions.<\/p>\n

\tThe debate over the bill included accusations of corruption, bribery and threats to obtain the necessary votes.<\/p>\n

\tJuan Carlo Argo, a young pro-life advocate opposed to the bill who observed some of the legislative proceedings, told CBCP News the bill\u2019s passage was \u201ca bitter experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBut the fight ain\u2019t over. I can still help save lives in my own little way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tAmy Lee, another bill opponent, said she felt a mixture of sadness and \u201cgreat determination\u201d to fight the bill and evangelize the teachings of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI am just unable to be a more obvious presence in the fight but I support a stronger Catholic presence in politics,\u201d she told CBCP News.<\/p>\n

\tFr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines\u2019 Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, also expressed resolve to continue opposition to the law, the Philippines Inquirer says.<\/p>\n

\tThe fact that President Aquino signed the bill in secret without media attention shows that the law \u201cis not meritorious at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe fight against the Culture of Death goes on. We can only lament that this was their gift to the Lord and to the Filipino people during Christmas season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBefore the president signed the bill, Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas of Lingayen Dagupan characterized it as a \u201cmoral time bomb.\u201d He called for efforts to strengthen families and marriages and to educate young people \u201cso that they can stand strong against the threats to their moral fiber.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tCatholic bishops\u2019 conference officials have said they would support Catholic lawyers\u2019 efforts to challenge the law before the Philippines Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manila, Philippines, Jan 3, 2013 \/ 12:04 am (CNA).- Philippines Catholics have strongly criticized President Benigno Aquino III for signing a controversial “reproductive health” bill, vowing to oust supporters of the legislation in the coun…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"yoast_head":"\nPhilippines Catholics pledge to defeat backers of RH bill<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Manila, Philippines, Jan 3, 2013 \/ 12:04 am (CNA).- Philippines Catholics have strongly criticized President Benigno Aquino III for signing a controversial “reproductive health” bill, vowing to oust supporters of the legislation in the coun...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philippines Catholics pledge to defeat backers of RH bill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Manila, Philippines, Jan 3, 2013 \/ 12:04 am (CNA).- Philippines Catholics have strongly criticized President Benigno Aquino III for signing a controversial “reproductive health” bill, vowing to oust supporters of the legislation in the coun...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-03T07:04:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/\",\"name\":\"Philippines Catholics pledge to defeat backers of RH bill\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-03T07:04:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-03T07:04:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Manila, Philippines, Jan 3, 2013 \/ 12:04 am (CNA).- Philippines Catholics have strongly criticized President Benigno Aquino III for signing a controversial “reproductive health” bill, vowing to oust supporters of the legislation in the coun...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Philippines Catholics pledge to defeat backers of RH bill\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Philippines Catholics pledge to defeat backers of RH bill","description":"Manila, Philippines, Jan 3, 2013 \/ 12:04 am (CNA).- Philippines Catholics have strongly criticized President Benigno Aquino III for signing a controversial “reproductive health” bill, vowing to oust supporters of the legislation in the coun...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Philippines Catholics pledge to defeat backers of RH bill","og_description":"Manila, Philippines, Jan 3, 2013 \/ 12:04 am (CNA).- Philippines Catholics have strongly criticized President Benigno Aquino III for signing a controversial “reproductive health” bill, vowing to oust supporters of the legislation in the coun...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2013-01-03T07:04:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/","name":"Philippines Catholics pledge to defeat backers of RH bill","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-03T07:04:00+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-03T07:04:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Manila, Philippines, Jan 3, 2013 \/ 12:04 am (CNA).- Philippines Catholics have strongly criticized President Benigno Aquino III for signing a controversial “reproductive health” bill, vowing to oust supporters of the legislation in the coun...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/philippines-catholics-pledge-to-defeat-backers-of-rh-bill\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Philippines Catholics pledge to defeat backers of RH bill"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}