Judges not allowed to talk to litigants
BY AMADO P. MACASAET
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Anti-RH extremism lives
A.G ROMUALDEZ JR., M.D
‘Many RH proponents agree that the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona deserves the highest priority.’
EVEN before the impeachment of Chief Justice Corona temporarily halted Senate discussions on reproductive health legislation, it appeared to some RH advocates that the official Catholic Church in general had become strangely quiet about the issue. Apart from the usual extremists feeding their unfounded allegations into the legislative debates, public discussions by bishops and the clergy appeared to have been uncharacteristically mute.
In Las Piñas City however, a priest - through his homily during the first morning Mass on Monday, 23 January 2012 at the parish church of Philamlife Village – demonstrated that religious extremism lives in the anti-RH community. On the occasion of the 39th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in that country, the Las Piñas homily dwelt on the issue of abortion. This could have been unnoticed – in the US, both sides of the abortion divide marked the occasion with demonstrations, marches, and parades – had not the priest in his extreme enthusiasm chosen to refer to the RH legislation now pending in our Congress as being the Philippine version of the legalization of abortion.
Linking reproductive health to abortion is precisely the kind of falsehood that religious extremists use to convince their ignorant peers and the legislators who would listen to block, obstruct, or in any other way prevent the passage of reproductive health legislation in our Congress.
In their eyes, this issue looms so large that it blinds them to the miseries of thousands of Filipino women who suffer and often die because of lack of government attention to their reproductive health needs.
The fact that Catholic Taliban continue to attack RH with false accusations, unfounded assertions, and fabricated studies should be a warning to advocates that, unless they carry on with their campaign, Filipino women (especially those in poverty) will be unable to pursue their right to appropriate reproductive health information and adequate services.
There is no question that the Senate trial currently on going has impeded progress on the RH Bill. The fact is that many RH proponents agree that, given its broad implications on the balance of the Aquino administration, the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona deserves the highest priority and needs to be resolved with dispatch. In addition, it must be noted that the result of the trial may actually have an effect on both RH legislation and the delivery of RH services in general.
The anti-RH forces have repeatedly threatened to question the constitutionality of any form of RH legislation before the Supreme Court. Until the impeachment, they appeared to be confident that the Corona-led Court, with the cooperation of the majority Macapagal-Arroyo appointees, would decide such a challenge in their favor. It is small wonder that the most extreme of RH opponents – stalwarts of well-known elitist and anti-poor organizations associated with Catholic rightists – are among the most vocal supporters of the Chief Justice in his legislative travails.
More worrisome than an adverse ruling on the constitutionality of RH legislation is the likely chilling effect it would have on the health system in general and the health professionals who are under obligation to provide reproductive services to their patients. Even services that are perfectly legal could be withheld for fear of legal entanglements or threats thereof from the righteous extremists.
Nevertheless, there is still reason to hope that RH legislation will eventually pass – many even hope that it can happen in this session. In fact deliberations on RH were set to resume yesterday in the House of Representatives – whose direct full-time involvement in the impeachment trial is strictly speaking limited to members of the prosecution panel and their spokespersons.
Even in the Senate, whose members are rightly preoccupied with the trial, there remains the possibility of RH discussions at least on an informal basis.
Although leprosy is no longer the major public health threat that it was just a little over a decade ago, the fact that more than two thousand new cases are still diagnosed each year in this country means that mycobacterium leprae, the causative microbe, still around in some homes and communities. Thus, leprosy experts here and globally are wary that our health system may become complacent about this formerly incurable communicable disease.
To address this concern, those involved in dealing with leprosy are joining the 1st Leprosy Stakeholders Symposium in Puerto Princesa, Palawan today. The event is sponsored by the Department of Health with the cooperation of the Novartis Sustainable Development Foundation and the Culion Foundation Incorporated.
Last Monday was the first day of the Chinese Year of the Water Dragon – a circumstance that happens only once every sixty years. Followers of the Chinese Zodiac are anticipating an unpredictable year of intense excitement. Already, newsmakers and media people alike are looking forward to a number of major events with great enthusiasm.
It remains to be seen whether the Water Dragon will favor one side or the other in the various controversies and conflicts that beset the Philippines. But for the sake of the people it is hoped that these will be resolved in a calm and rational manner befitting the belief that water exerts a calming influence on the usually fiery and energetic dragon. It is also said that Water Dragons are generally open to other people’s opinions. If true, then perhaps Filipinos can look forward to a year when sensible and rational solutions will be found to our myriad problems and travails.
Email: alberto.romualdez@ gmail.com
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