Prelate not closing doors on RH talks with Aquino

A HIGH-RANKING Catholic official said he is still open to the possibility of reviving the aborted talks with the Aquino administration over the highly-divisive Reproductive Health (RH) bill.
If there will come a time that the government would seek another dialogue with the bishops, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle said he is not closing his doors on the opportunity.
“From the start, I was part of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) team that was meant to dialogue with Malacañang and some Cabinet members regarding this. If it were me, I would want to continue playing that role,” he said.
Proof of this, Tagle said, is his continued acceptance of lawmakers looking to learn more of the CBCP’s position towards the proposed law.
Asked who these lawmakers that are approaching him, he said he could not disclose their identities but admitted that they were both coming from the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“My obligation is to explain the Church’s position. I can only answer on queries that I’m competent with. If this is enough to change their position, that I don’t know,” Tagle said.
In May last year, the CBCP pulled out from the dialogue with Palace officials over the measure believing that Aquino is already determined to have the RH bill passed, making any further discussion futile.
The CBCP, subsequently, declared an all-out war against the RH bill as it undergoes the plenary debates at the House of Representatives and in the Senate.
Meantime, a group of women advocates working among grassroots communities’ nationwide urged lawmakers to show their love to women by voting on the RH bill.
This has been shown in various surveys conducted by prestigious organizations since the bill was first filed more than a decade ago and the results in recent years have not changed, said Elizabeth Angsioco, national chairperson of the Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (DSWP).
“Seventy-three percent of Filipinos believe that family planning is a personal choice and a right, and that government should provide Filipinos with information and services – that is according to the latest Social Weather Stations survey,” she said, referring to the pollster’s June 2011 survey.
Since plenary debates on the bill began last year, the measure has yet to see the light of the day in Congress.
“Congress leaders still do not listen to the voice of the majority of the Filipino people,” Angsioco said. “And while the delays on the RH debate continues, women, especially poor women, suffer from pregnancy and childbirth complications.” (Virgil Lopez/AMN/Sunnex)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2012/02/14/prelate-not-closing-doors-rh-talks-aquino-206109