Another Year

It's been almost a year since I posted this. Sadly, both issues are still unresolved.

The problems we have regarding reproductive health remains unaddressed, and worse, the anti-RH "advocates" seem to be getting more ignorant about the issue while at the same time becoming more aggressive in their advocacy. What a dangerous combination.

Justice is still elusive for the victims of the massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao. I remember the overwhelming emotions that people had when this heinous crime came to our knowledge. Today marks the anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre. I hope we don't see another Nov 23 like last year's in our country's history, and I hope we won't have to wait another year before justice is finally served.

Polar Opposites Don't Push Away

I condemn the Ampatuan Massacre.

It's the work of barbaric monsters. Something like this should not go unpunished, and should not be forgotten. This shouldn't be handled with kid-gloves just because the main suspects of the crime are allies of the president.

It's sickening that this was done, and for such a shallow reason as the illusion of "power". I condemn the Ampatuan Massacre and I condemn all political war clans who hold such abusive power.

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I support the Reproductive Health Bill.

Because it can prevent this:

Official estimates put annual abortions at 400,000 to 500,000, and rising. The World Health Organization estimate puts the figure at nearly 800,000, one of the highest rates of unsafe abortions in Asia.

Seventy percent of unwanted pregnancies in the Philippines end in abortion said Jean-Marc Olivé, the country representative of the World Health Organization. One of four pregnancies in the Philippines end in abortion, according to Pro-Life Philippines, an anti-abortion group.

According to the Department of Health, nearly 100,000 women who have unsafe abortions every year end up in the hospital.

The Philippines, with its high population growth rate (2.6 percent) and low rate of contraceptive use (an estimated 35 percent) also has an increasing number of teenage pregnancies. As many as 17 percent of all unsafe abortions are done on teenage or young mothers, according to the Department of Health.

Compounding the problem is the fact that 36 percent of Filipino women become pregnant before marriage and 45 percent of all pregnancies are either unwanted or ill-timed, according to the World Health Organization.

The source of that quote is the article Philippines abortion crisis from The New York Times, an article that was written 4 years ago but is sadly still valid today (and whose figures are likely with even worse now.)

The RH Bill will help prevent unwanted pregnancies and all the troubles that are attached to it. It will help couples plan their family's future, and help them attain these plans by making the means more accessible. It will help educate people on how to act responsibly when it comes to their reproductive and sexual health.

Because that's what education does, and that's what this bill brings. What it doesn't bring is narrow-mindedness on issues and ills that are actually affecting hundreds of thousands of Filipino women and men.

I support the Reproductive Health Bill and I will support the politicians who bravely take a stand for it, even if it means they stand against the political blackmail that the Philippine Catholic church is sending out.