In the House of Representatives, 114 members have signed up as sponsors of HB 5043 which mandates a government-supported reproductive health program that includes making available to the poor all the possible legal methods of family planning.

Given these numbers, opponents of the measure will likely resort to dilatory tactics that substitute parliamentary tricks for rational discussion.

Working in favor of these tactics is the fact that there are a number of legislative issues that will be competing for congressional attention during the six weeks that remain before the Christmas break.

Among these are agrarian reform extension and the impeachment complaint filed recently. Proponents of HB 5043 are confident however that when it comes to a vote, the RH bill will finally pass.

If the House approves the measure, the situation in the Senate appears to be similar in the sense that the minority members who oppose RH legislation will use all sorts of parliamentary tricks. By their past statements and recent actuations, advocates of the bill count 14 senators: Angara, Biazon, Pia Cayetano, Enrile, Escudero, Estrada, Gordon, Honasan, Lacson, Madrigal, Pangilinan, Revilla, Santiago, and Zubiri.

Senators Aquino, Arroyo, Alan Cayetano, Legarda, Roxas, and Trillanes are listed as undecided. It is noteworthy that of these six senators, two (Legarda and Roxas) are among those invariably included in surveys for presidentiables, indicating the possibility that Church power may be a consideration in some senators’ decision. The neutral position of Senator Arroyo is noteworthy only because he is the only one among the six identified with the administration.

Listed as opposed to reproductive health legislation are Senators Lapid, Pimentel, and Villar. Senator Lapid’s position is clear – he opposes the measure because he perceives Malacañang to be against it. Senator Pimentel’s opposition to any population management or family planning proposals has been consistent for many years – he has always supported the position of the Roman Catholic Church on this issue.

Senate President Villar’s position that is somewhat of a mystery.

As a presidentiable who seems to be sympathetic to the plight of the poor Filipino majority, Senator Villar, more than the other aspirants for higher office, might have been expected to support what is clearly pro-poor legislation. After all, the proposed law is designed to help those who cannot now afford them to use the family planning methods of their choice in order to fulfill their responsible parenthood obligations.

Here again, the factor of Church power in national politics may again be a decisive influence. There are unconfirmed reports that the Senate President has promised a Catholic bishop that he would block reproductive health proposals. Advocates hope that this is just a rumor and that Mr. Villar, just like his political rivals, will in the end decide on the basis the people’s interest rather than political expediency.

The fact is that surveys have shown clearly that most Filipinos favor laws that will compel government to provide reproductive health services especially for the poor. This is reflected in the number of congressmen and senators who now openly support the reproductive health bill. But the minority who oppose this measure are a tenacious lot and supported strongly by the minority of Catholics who happen to be conservative extremist. It is for this reason that even now reproductive health legislation will continue to have rough sailing in the Philippine Congress.

The need for action on this issue is becoming more urgent by the day. Already the population growth rate among the poor is twice that of the well-off. Children from these low income groups will have little chances of healthy lives and even less of full education. The elitist, anti-poor position of anti-reproductive health fundamentalists will prolong and expand the sufferings of the majority of Filipinos who are already in dire straits.

Also worrisome, if unenlightened policies in reproductive health triumph, is the plight of Filipinos who are at high risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. These include groups such as poor women forced by economics into commercial sex work as well as overseas workers who face greater exposure to AIDS than Filipinos who stay home. Ironically, this last group also happens to be claimed by the Senate President as his special constituency.

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Apparently Filipino "crab mentality" may also be a factor in the American presidential elections. The unconscionably racist reaction of some Filipinos who would otherwise have favored a Democratic candidate is clear evidence of this. They would rather not have a black man as president of the United States even if this means that such an eventuality would improve the chances of other minority groups for high office.

Fortunately, the number of Filipinos who think this way is too small to make a difference in the outcome of the November 4 election. It is nevertheless sad that members of an oppressed minority should themselves support views that have led to their own oppression as well.

Historically, there is every reason for Filipinos to be anti-Republican. After all, it was the Republican President William McKinley who stole our independence and imposed almost forty years of conservative American rule on the Philippines. The Balangiga massacre where hundreds of Filipino men, women and children were slaughtered by American soldiers preceded by a century the depredations at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.

Democratic American presidents have traditionally been more internationalist than Republicans. In the 60s civil rights and the advancement of minorities were essentially Democratic themes. It is small wonder that the first black candidate of a mainstream political party in America would be that of the Democratic Party.