The popularity of the RH bill in the recent Pulse Asia survey, where it showed that 69 percent of Filipinos favored responsible parenthood, should not be interpreted as win-loss situation for the state and church, respectively.
Rather, it should be construed as recognition by the state of the dire need to curve the country’s burgeoning population which is being supported by the people and which feelings and beliefs should be accepted by the church.
Responsible parenthood, which is the essence of the RH bill, is simply giving the Filipino people the right to be informed and disciplined and the freedom to choose what birth control measures to adopt in raising a family.
The church should not condemn the survey nor continue to put a wedge between government and the populace putting them asunder for reason of religious beliefs and teachings.
Where there is government to help and be importantly instrumental in improving health, well being, and lives of people, in general, then let them exercise it to the fullest for it is what they are mandated to do and we can only be appreciative of it.
Where there is government that acts on things and issues beneficial to the country and its people, such as the RH bill, allow them to pursue it and prove they are going in the right direction.
There are so many evils in this world that are destroying lives and alienating people from God. There are so many homeless children roaming around, so many broken homes, so much hatred and much love lost. This is where the church servants should make their presence felt.
Family planning measures is in the realm of experts belonging to the state.
It could never be under the jurisdiction of the church.
Firstly, the Church exists not to please the majority (if the supporters of the RH Bill are indeed the majority) but to stand up for what it believes is right. It may surely accept the popularity of certain issues but it should never accede to them if they are immoral.
Secondly, the state can hardly be called experts on family planning. Look at what happened to China and Singapore, to name but two, which realized the folly of their efforts to curb population growth through unnatural means. What we must realize is that there really are destinations (objectives) that have no shortcuts; let us not be fooled that artificial contraception is the short road to economic prosperity. Fighting poverty cannot be alienated from human values. People must be viewed as part of the solution and not as the very problem.
Finally, if some people really want to control the size of their family using any method of contraception, are they not free to do so today?
What we must do is to truly educate the people. Educate them not just on the so-called (note: deceptive) reproductive health, but on values. This very same government that you call “expert on family planning” has eradicated values education in our public schools, and now wishes to replace that with sex education.
I will not put the future of young Filipinos in the hands of your so-called experts. And I thank the Church (not just the Catholic Church but also the other religions who oppose the RH Bill as well) for standing firm against this bill.
Almost all coins have two sides except those perhaps which are used for trickery.
You are right. Right information is what our less-educated countrymen needs. The DSW used to have a program called PASE (Population Awareness and Sex Education). I worked as youth development officer of DSW in our province (Sultan Kudarat) when I was in 4th year college. We would go to far-flung barrios to lecture on this. Those we visited were interested to learn. I do not know what happened to this program. There are so many things that DSW should do to show that population awareness is not just about birth control pills and condom. It is an accepted fact that most of those in the far-flung barrios and depressed areas indulge in sex since there is not much to do to while their time away – without understanding the consequences – unwanted births. Despite DSW’s big budget from the national coffer, I cannot find a single DSW personnel going around to gather old citizens living on pavements andrugby children when these can easily be brought to the institutions intended for them. The agency leaves this responsibility to the LGUs which do not exert much effort due to the perpetual excuse of limited budget.
The children, half-clad in tattered clothes, roaming around scavenging for foods in garbage piles, begging for alms in busy street corners, etc. did not ask to be born. They were brought into this world because of their parents’ want of carnal pleasure. These children are made to suffer from the ignorance of their parents, earning their ire for want of money to survive and even helplessly used to commit crime, etc. I pity them. They cannot comprehend at their age, why they are suffering. All they know is that they have to survive or bring home money to their indolent parents.
Below is my poem dedicated to these innocent children:
Children of Dawn
By Apolinario B Villalobos
I call them children of dawn
Oblivious to the cold
While on the paved sidewalk
Are peacefully sprawled.
With empty stomach
They stare at the wave
Of people who rush by
Inhale the exhaust of cars
And bath in the dust
That the wind sweep at them
Unmindful still of the heat
That the sun beams at them
As it reaches its zenith
Signaling the half day
Rotation of mother Earth.
Surviving on morsels
That fill garbage bins
They smile at found
Unfinished sandwiches
Half eaten breads
Half rotten fruits
Thankful for them
Just like the birds of the sky
Other creatures in the wild
Fish in the vast oceans
Trees that on polluted air survive
These children of dawn
Are luckier than some of us
For being what they are –
Innocent and having clean minds.
PASE sounds like a good idea to be revived in case congress fails to pass the RH bill. The question is, are there volunteers or applicants for the job of going to far-flung areas like you did? Looks like the young generation today have their sights at the urban areas and not much about what they can do in far away barrios.
Very pleased to have known you through this medium. Like the way you write and love your your poems. Hope reading them will rub off on me a little.