In the eyes of Lagman, Aquino is ‘magna cum laude’

source: abs-cbnnews

MANILA, Philippines - One of the most inflexible critics of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III today lauded him for his strong stance in the reproductive health debate, even calling him a “magna cum laude.”

In an interview with ANC, Minority House Leader Edcel Lagman said “I think the President is doing this step by step. His statement is magna cum laude [level]. He should be elevated to summa cum laude if he will include it as a priority bill.”

Aquino told the graduates of the University of the Philippines on Sunday that he would be pushing for the Responsible Parenthood Bill even at the risk of excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church.

The Responsible Parenthood Bill is a watered-down version of the Reproductive Health Bill, which Lagman authored in the House of Representatives.

Even if Malacañang has been meeting with Church officials over the Responsible Parenthood Bill, both parties have yet to agree on salient points. The Church has already recognized that condoms are not abortifacients. Nonetheless, it remains anti-contraceptives.

The 2 parties again met last month after the Church decided to halt temporarily the discussions.

Lagman said Aquino “remains steadfast in support of the bill. I think that the delay in prioritizing the bill is because he is just consulting several stakeholders.”

With Aquino’s statement, he sees no hitches in the passing of the bill when Congress resumes in May.

“We already have 115 official co-authors, and more than 3 dozen more who have committed,” Lagman said.

Bacolod Rep. Anthony Golez said the passing of the Reproductive Health Bill may take a long while since the proponents have to study first the Malacañang-sponsored Responsible Parenthood Bill. Golez, although a member of the minority group, has opposed the RH Bill.

He said both are different bills. This means that the Responsible Parenthood Bill will have to go back to the committee level, he said.

Nonetheless, Golez insists that both promote contraceptives, which he said are abortifacients. “[Abortifacients] are anything contrary to the protection of the unborn from the moment of fertilization,” he said.

This is against the provision of the Constitution, he said.

Malacañang earlier insisted that the Responsible Parenthood Bill is not meant to control population. It provides parents with “informed choice,” such as the use of contraceptives.

source: abs-cbnnews