News

10.02.2011     MANILA, Philippines—Despite protests by women’s groups, Malacañang is standing pat on its stand that it will not present a responsible parenthood bill to Congress without first concluding its dialogue on the subject with the Catholic Church.

“We’re committed to the dialogue and it’s only prudent for us to finish it first before taking any further action on the matter,” said deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte.

Valte said Palace officials and bishops were due to meet again for a dialogue at the end of the month while President Benigno Aquino III has already scheduled a Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting for Feb.28.

The President is expected to present to congressional leaders at the LEDAC meeting the 17 Palace-drafted bills that he wants Congress to prioritize for passage this year.

The priority list of 17 measures does not include the responsible parenthood bill that aims, among other things, to set up natural and artificial family planning centers to provide information to couples in planning the size of their families.

The exclusion of the responsible parenthood bill from the Palace’s priority list drew protests from women’s groups.

Valte said Mr. Aquino was “staunchly behind responsible parenthood” but stressed that he was also committed to finishing the dialogue with the bishops.

She also said it was a “misconception” that the President had pushed for the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill when he was campaigning for president last year.

“We have always been consistent that his stand was always for responsible parenthood. Meaning that the choice is left to the parents after they have all the available information given to them and that they will make their choice according to their personal belief. And secondly, that we do not favor any method over the other,” Valte said. Christine O. Avendaño