ATTY. MARWIL LLASOS AND FILIPINOS 4 LIFE CONTINUE DRIVE AGAINST RH BILL

MANILA,
August 30, 2011–As news reports on inconsistencies in statistical
numbers and in the agenda of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill and its
proponents continue to come out, hundreds of parishioners in Paranaque
City got the lowdown on the controversial bill through informative talks
delivered by members of Filipinos for Life (F4L).

Following a multi-media presentation on pro-life issues, Anthony
James Perez, Anna Cosio and Atty. Marwil Llasos tackled different
aspects of House Bill 4244 at an afternoon activity organized by Mary,
Mother of Good Counsel Parish and attended by some 300 parishioners,
most of them students.

Perez, F4L founder, discussed the reasons for the group’s opposition
to the bill, explaining why the legislative measure was not the solution
to the country’s problems.

Citing incontestable statistics, Perez debunked the overpopulation
myth on which population control advocates have based their claims.

Nurse instructor Cosio tackled the medical and health-related issues
surrounding the bill. Armed with science-based research and findings,
she proved that human life starts at fertilization–or the meeting of the
egg and sperm cells.

As part of the RH bill is the taxpayer-funded procurement and
distribution of artificial contraceptives, Cosio also went into a
discussion of the harmful–and sometimes fatal–effects of birth control
drugs and devices on women.

Tackling the moral, constitutional and legal aspects was Llasos, who
declared that the bill was anti-God, anti-human and anti-Filipino.
Included in the lawyer’s presentation were explanations as to the
constitutional infirmities of portions of the bill.

As
the talks concluded, a woman among the participants brought up the
situation of an unmarried friend who had considered getting rid of her
unborn baby, given that the child’s father refused to acknowledge his
responsibility to the mother and child.

Llasos’ advice to the woman was to tell her friend to inform her
parents about the situation. Abortion is not an option, he added, and
there are government, private and religious institutions that can help
women in such situations.

The lawyer also offered F4L’s help in facilitating adoption placement for the baby.

Meanwhile, members of the Speakers’ Bureau of the Vicariate of Real
Infanta and General Nakar,  Prelature of Infanta, Quezon province
boosted their understanding of the issues pertaining to the culture of
life through a recent seminar about the RH bill.

As part of the family and life ministry’s series of trainors’
training seminars, Buhay Partylist pro-life advocacy staff Jose
Descallar delivered a day-long talk on issues pertaining to the
legislative measure to 45 participants–including school principals,
teachers and city councilors–upon the invitation of the prelature’s
Vicar-General Fr. Mario Establecida.

According to Descallar, the open forum was quite interesting due to
questions about the “fine-tuned” version of the bill, supposedly an
initiative of Malacanang.

“Hindi pa din okey sa inyo ‘yung amendments na ginagawa dun sa bill?” queried one of the participants.

Descallar explained that such amendments changed nothing because
“it’s the bill’s framework that’s the problem. Even if you amend it and
all that’s left are four sections–declaration of policy, guiding
principles, appropriations, and the penal provisions–hindi pa din okey ‘yan. It is still within the same framework.”

H.B. 4244, authored by Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, continues
to face a growing opposition due to its mandate of taxpayer-funded
procurement and distribution of a “full range” of birth control drugs
and devices including abortifacients, six-year sex education program
from Grade 5 to 4th year high school in all schools as well as among
out-of-school youth, provision of birth control drugs, devices and
services by employers to their employees, and punitive measures for
those who speak out against the bill. (CBCP for Life)