"CEASEFIRE" between Malacañang and the Catholic Church has been reached on the Reproductive Health Bill upon the request of President Benigno C. Aquino III but certainly it should not stop public discussion of the controversial House measure. Rightly or wrongly, the people should be encouraged to express themselves freely on such an important issue that directly affects them and society in general. The other day, the Catholic Church, obviously challenged by the President's stance on the reproductive health issue as espoused by certain members of the House, threatened to mount civil disobedience action as an option to resist the government move. Msgr. Juanito Figura, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines, was quoted in news reports as saying that the Catholic Church of the Philippines could initiate civil disobedience as a moral option. As must have been observed, the controversy over the proposed health measure escalated when
President Aquino openly declared support behind it, saying "it is what is right for the majority of the people." And the President and his spokespersons repeated the same message at every turn. While in the United States recently, Aquino told a small town meeting with Filipinos that he was in favor of contraceptive methods to curb population growth - "even if it runs counter to natural methods being proposed by the Catholic Church." Population control has been a running issue in the country but the tight hold of the Catholic Church on Filipino families has made birth control a guarded subject.
This does not mean, of course, that birth control is not practiced among Catholic families and couples: It is, and probably widely among the more educated and supposedly sophisticated partners. While true that big families abound in most communities, families with small number of children are also present almost everywhere particularly in the cities - and not because of natural causes. The truth is, more educated couples now practice birth control either natural or artificial or both. And they are vocal about it and proud or their family planning practices. They are the same people you see religiously going to church, attending Sunday mass, and receiving communion. For all you know, they could be the same people who will be at the forefront of the civil disobedience rally, if and when the bishops make good their threat to obstruct Malacañang support for the Reproductive Health Bill. Truth to tell, they do not need the bill to become a law to practice what it preaches. * * * "
(zhern_218@yahoo.com)
