Palace to respect Congress decision on RH bill

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang is prepared to accept defeat if the Reproductive Health (RH) bill that President Aquino has endorsed will not be approved in Congress, saying what is important is that the palace did its best to have the measure passed.

"We have already stated our preference for the Responsible Parenthood bill. But as to the pace, as to the speed in the proceedings, we will have to defer to the House and the Senate," Secretary Edwin Lacierda said.

Lacierda's statement came after Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a perceived ally of the administration, hinted the bill may be in for rough sailing in the Senate, noting that Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is against it.

Lacson has joined the RH bill proponents, Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Pia Cayetano, in asking that the measure be put to a vote, even if he admitted it won't likely get past Enrile and Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto.

"It's in the control of the Senate. So we respect the proceedings there. So it's up to them. The same could not happen in the House also," Lacierda said, alluding to the statement of House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II about the RH bill's slim chance.

No less than Aquino himself is bent on accepting the RH bill's fate. "We've pushed FOI (Freedom of Information) and RH bills quite significantly. If I get blamed, I should also be credited," he told journalist Coco Alcuaz of ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC).

The RH bill is now undergoing plenary debates in the House of Representatives. It is on the verge of losing its chances of being passed in the 15th Congress, which shall end in June 2013.

By October this year, House members and 12 senators will be filing their certificates of candidacies for purposes of joining the May 2013 midterm elections, where wooing the votes of the Catholics - where bishops are most influential - is vital.

Gonzales hinted that the passage of House Bill 4244 is now very slim, considering that congressmen will be busy campaigning for the May 2013 polls, apart from the fact that screening the 2013 national budget will also tie their hands.

Gonzales, a congressman from Mandaluyong City, said the chances of the RH bill being approved in the House were becoming "smaller and more difficult" as it remained stuck in floor debates, citing opponents' fierce opposition to the measure.

The administration lawmaker said he would suggest to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to call for a caucus of all members of the House to set a deadline to end the debates so that the measure can be finally voted upon.

The caucus could also discuss the legislative agenda for the third and final session of the 15th Congress.

"If we terminate the debates, then we finish one hurdle. But then we go to the (period of) amendments, which is the harder hurdle than the debates," Gonzales said.

"But still, we owe it to the people that we vote on it. It's not fair to start debating on this and not finish what we started," the House official said.

Gonzales said it was possible that the termination of debates would be at the "lull period" in the last week of this month.