I couldn’t help but react to this piece of news I spotted when I visited Yahoo! Philippines’ homepage.  According to EX-Mayor Lito Atienza of Manila, the Reproductive Health Bill is worse than Martial Law.  From what I can derive from the newspiece, he gave this statement because the bill is “unconstitutional” and “anti-life”.  Also, it compels women to take drugs that will destroy their bodies.

Now, Congressmen who would support this measure will be given an additional P10 million their countrywide development fund or pork barrel.  Atienza was quoted quipping that it would be their “condom development fund”.

What really baffles me is how he finds this bill worse than the Martial Law.  Isn’t Martial Law the law that ignited the silence of journalists?  Suppression, lifting of habeas corpus, abductions and growth of desaparecidos, not to mention the inhumane treatment of political prisoners?  How is the RH Bill, whose main goal is to educate people of proper family planning, worse than the law that shutdown all media establishments and cost the country billions and billions in deficit?

Ang labo lang para ikumpara ang isang bagay na naglalayon iangat ang pang-unawa ng Pilipino sa isang batas na pumatay ng maraming Pilipino.

Did they not hear the news?  Even the Pope okayed the use of condoms.  The Pope himself recognized the fact that these things, however artificial, can prolong life and prevent the transfer of disease.

Besides, isn’t it also included in the RH bill that information must first be disseminated, individuals educated of how to use and when to use these contraceptives?  The RH Bill isn’t just wanting to throw pills and condoms in their faces; it aims to tell them how to use them PROPERLY so as not to destroy female bodies.  With proper guidance and monitoring, these contraceptives will not only control population growth.  This bill can actually make the Filipino smarter when it comes to proper family planning.

Minsan talaga mas mabilis ang bibig kesa sa utak.  At nakakahiya, sa totoo lang, na dokumentado ang mga minsang pagkakataon na yon.

Please be more careful with your words, Mr Atienza.  You are insulting the RH Bill supporters, who all want to guarantee a family life of more quality than the ones we have now, by inciting they are worse than the most cruel dictator this country has come to know.

Read this piece of news from Yahoo! Philippines and Philippine Star.