ShareThisChurch airs threat, but
President gets backing
on birth control stand
MANILA (PinoyNews) – The Roman Catholic Church has threatened to excommunicate President Benigno Aquino III over his announcement in California that he was open to the use of contraceptives.
The leader, however, merely shrugged off the threat, saying he was open to a dialogue with the Church leaders on the use of contraceptives which, for the Church, is a form of birth control.
Even as the row heated up, the President gathered support for his stand from Congress leaders and women’s groups.
The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) said it strongly supports Aquino’s stand on family planning and responsible parenthood.
Several senators deplored the Church’s threat on Aquino.
Senator Franklin Drilon described as “hysterical reaction” the statement of CBCP president and Surigao del Sur Bishop Nereo Odchimar that President Aquino could be excommunicated while senator Miriam Defensor Santiago called in “too extreme and disproportionate.”
“Threats and intimidation will not bring us to a rational conclusion on this controversy nor will they help solve the problems of the country,” Drilon said.
Bishop Odchimar said excommunication of Mr. Aquino was a “proximate possibility” if his administration continues to support the right to contraceptives.
Odchimar pointed out that the issue of reproductive health is attached to abortion and “excommunication is attached to those.”
Another CBCP official, Fr. Melvin Castro, earlier threatened to stage protest actions like ‘‘civil disobedience’’ over the government’s plan to distribute condoms and pills to Filipino couples.
The Catholic Church promotes only natural family planning and is opposed to the use of artificial birth control methods such as condoms and birth-control pills, saying these could lead to promiscuity and a rise in abortion cases.
As the debate on contraceptives heated up, Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes said that the statement of Odchimar does not reflect the stand of the CBCP on the excommunication threat against the President on family planning issue.
According to Bishop Bastes, it is the personal view of Bishop Odchimar and is not the official statement of the CBCP
The President’s spokesman, lawyer Edwin Lacierda, disclosed that Mr. Aquino was not affected by the threat of being ex-communicated for supporting the Reproductive Health (RH) bill being pushed in the Lower House by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and other lawmakers.
Lacierda said President Aquino “is not at all affected by the threat of CBCP President and Tandag Archbishop Nereo Odchimar that the Chief Executive might be subject to excommunication from the Catholic Church if he will support the use of contraceptive for artificial birth control.”
President Aquino issued a statement regarding the threat of the CBCP leader.
”We are all guided by our conscience. My position has not changed. The state’s duty is to educate our families as to their responsibilities and to respect their decisions if they are in conformity to our laws,” President Aquino said in the statement.
According to Lacierda, the President’s position is to support the responsible parenthood and give the couples their choices on how to plan their family.
Lacierda added that the government is waiting for the response of the Catholic Church leadership on the offer of President Aquino for a dialogue to resolve the issue.
Bishop Odchimar threatened that Aquino might be subject to religious censure if the President will insist on his stance that Filipino couples should be given the choice to use artificial contraceptives.
Odchimar also advised President Aquino to consider the position of the Catholic Church before making his stand the RH bill issues.
But the President maintained his support for responsible parenthood and said in his statement that the state should respect the choices couples make on the kind of birth control method they want to use.
Aquino said during a meeting with a Filipino community in San Francisco last week, that the government “is obligated to inform everybody of their responsibility and their choices, at the end of the day government might provide assistance to those who are without means if they want to employ a particular method.”
Lacierda insisted that the President’s stand on family planning does not mean he is automatically supporting the RH bill now re-filed in the House of Representatives.
Senator Pia S. Cayetano called on the people to rally support behind President Aquino’s stand favoring the distribution of contraceptives to Filipino couples who request it.
“For standing by his Pro-Choice position despite mounting criticism and pressure from the Catholic Church, the President urgently needs support not only from the advocates of the Reproductive Health bill, but more importantly from every citizen who believes in the right of couples to make an informed choice on the issue of birth control,” the lady senator said.
Cayetano, chair of the Senate committee on health and demography, said she understands that right of the church to propagate its teachings “but the state also has a duty to provide basic health services to its people, including reproductive health.”
Citing the country’s high maternal mortality rate, she said many Filipino women die at childbirth due to poverty, lack of access to facilities and professional care, which can all be addressed by the RH bill.
Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto agreed with Santiago that the threat of the CBCP president is too strict, also calling for a dialogue to resolve the issue.