Recently, a tragedy (typhoon Pablo) struck the Philippines that left a lot of people dead and destroyed billions worth of properties and livelihood. A leader of the influential Catholic Church linked the catastrophic event to the RH (Reproductive Health) Bill as the tragedy happened at the same time when Congress was deliberating the bill’s fate.<\/p>\n
The bill, according to some “experts<\/a>” will just legalize abortion and contraception. Huh? “Porke ba RH Bill e contraception agad? Hindi ba pwedeng women’s health\/advancement of reproductive health facilities muna?” [If it’s RH Bill, it’s always about contraception? Why not think of it as women’s health\/advancement of reproductive health facilities?] (in a Vice Ganda-ish<\/a> tone)<\/p>\n Why do they always link the Bill to contraception? Have they read the bill’s content before making a comment? Have they been keen on understanding what the bill says before jumping into conclusions? <\/p>\n We are now in a modern society with a high cost of living. You can’t support a family if you’re just relying on the crops you grow in your backyard or the farm. Before, a Filipino family can afford to eat three times a day and even send their children to school, even if they are large in terms of number of offsprings. But gone were the days… <\/p>\n Today, a liter if petrol is about 5times more than the price when I was in high school, and that was just 20years ago. When I was a kid, a tricycle ride was just 2Php, now it is 10Php. My daily allowance before was just about 2Php\/day. If that is still the case today, you can just buy 2pieces of candy.<\/p>\n Going back, we need long-term solutions to long-term problems. Aside from providing facilities that specifically cater to women’s health, this bill can also provide options and educate couples by providing them access to family planning facilities. Nowadays, it is quite impossible to manage a large family. Educating poor families the value of family planning is not really about limiting the number of children but providing them quality life.<\/p>\n The church official’s comment was highly uncalled for. It is very unbecoming of a man who is called to lead the people to salvation by setting an example, not only through the sermons they deliver from the pulpit but also how they behave in front of the public’s scrutinizing eyes. <\/p>\n