As debate over the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill continued Wednesday in the Philippine House of Representatives, a co-sponsor of the bill admitted that the RH Bill was a means to control the population size of poor Filipinos in apparent contradiction to statements made by other bill sponsors.
Rep. Kimi Cojuangco of the Pangasinan province, a co-sponsor of the bill, admitted that the RH Bill, widely criticized by Filipino pro-lifers and the Catholic Church, was a means of population control during an exchange with Rep. Ma. Milagros Magsaysay of Zambales.
Rep. Cojuangco’s admission was a surprise to her co-RH Bill supporters, and she quickly tried to backtrack on her statements.
According to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for Life blog, the dialogue took place as follows:
“Is [the RH bill] a population measure?” asked Rep. Magsaysay.
“Of course,” responded Rep. Cojuangco
“Of course? It’s a population measure? To curb poverty, do you need to curb population? In your eyes?” asked Rep. Magsaysay.
“Definitely,” said Rep. Cojuangco.
“In other words, you are contradicting the position of all your other co-sponsors there who said that this is not a population measure, that this is not a poverty alleviation measure,” said Rep. Magsaysay.
Rep. Cojuangco then paused for a few seconds before saying, “Well, it’s not a population… ay, it is a population measure but it’s not population control.”
After a few more moments of silence in the hall, Cojuangco insisted, “It’s a population measure but it’s not population control.”
Filipino pro-lifers insist that the RH Bill seeks to impose a Western population control agenda through contraception and other “reproductive health” services. Startling provisions in the bill would also fine or jail opponents of the bill’s programs if they were to give “false or misleading” information about the bill.
Philippine Senate Majority Leader Vicente Soto recently expressed concern over the “sinister” population control motives of some of the bill’s backers.
“We find groups, NGOs, pharmaceutical companies or business interests behind the bill or supporting people behind the bill, so this adds to our fears,” Sotto said.
Sotto cited the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines as among the groups lobbying for the passage of the RH bill. The organization is the largest non-government family planning group in the country, and a member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) founded by Margaret Sanger, according to Sotto.
“She (Sanger) is the inventor or founder of eugenics and eugenics is the scientific strategy of eliminating the poor, the weak, the useless and the uneducated,” Sotto stressed.
The bill also directly contradicts the protections of life and family guaranteed in the Philippine constitution according to Article 2 Section 12:
The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.
Human Life International recently produced a short documentary film, “The Philippines: Preserving a Culture of Life,” that highlights the fight against the RH Bill as one of the most dramatic social and political struggles for life and family in the world. The film premiered on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) in the Philippines last week, and is currently playing in the United States and Canada. The next scheduled air date is Friday, August 26 at 9:00pm EST.
LifeNews.com Note: Reprinted with permission from Human Life International’s World Watch forum. Adam Cassandra is a Communications Specialist at Human Life International.
