MANILA: The highest prelate in Manila’s Roman Catholic Church has joined calls for lawmakers not to rush the passage of the reproductive health (RH) bill.

In a statement, Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle and 14 other bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Manila said that there is a need to discuss the proposed legislation thoroughly.

“We are appealing to the Honorable Representatives to give ample time to deliberations and discernment and not to unduly rush them,” part of the statement reads.

In their pre-Christmas gathering held on Tuesday the bishops reflected on the discussions on the population control measure in Congress.

Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes said they agree that the bill will promote harm than its supposed benefits to the country.

“They should not hurry up the bill because it is the future of Filipinos that is at stake here,” said Reyes who also chairs the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL)

Transparency
The church leaders also called on for transparency if the controversial measure is put to a vote.

“We are appealing to them to conduct the deliberation and decision with transparency through nominal voting and respect for the diversity of views,” they said.

According to Reyes, the people have the right to know the position of their respective representatives on the RH bill.

And if the lawmakers would continue with the “viva voce” scheme of voting, he said it only means the issue will affect their election chances next year.

“They know that they will have a problem in the coming elections if they voted for RH bill because there are so many people who are against it,” he said.

Among the signatories of the statement are Bishops Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao, Deogracias Iñiguez of Kalookan, Jose Oliveros of Malolos, Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, and Jesse Mercado of Parañaque.

Bishops Mylo Hubert Vergara of Pasig, Leo Drona of San Pablo, Leopoldo Tumulak of the Military Ordinariate, Pedro Arigo of Puerto Princesa and Edgardo Juanich of Taytay also signed the statement.

Auxiliary Bishops Francisco De Leon of Antipolo and Broderick Pabillo and Bernardino Cortez of Manila and Fr. George Morales, Diocesan Administrator of Imus also joined Cardinal Tagle’s appeal.

Earlier, the ECFL called on lawmakers to make known their position on the RH bill instead of hiding under the cloak of “ayes” or nays”.

Last August, lawmakers in Congress had voted to end the plenary debates on the measure through the viva voce vote.

Malicious misrepresentation
Reyes belied a newspaper report quoting a member of the House majority who said he had attended a meeting between lawmakers and some bishops on the RH bill.

The bishop also denied giving inputs to the “substitute bill” to the HB 4244. He said Speaker Feliciano Belmonte could attest that he was not part of any meeting on the measure.

“This is a malicious misrepresentation by the anonymous member of the House majority,” Reyes said.