MANILA, Dec. 15, 2012—Like a father praising his children for a job well done, CBCP Vice-President Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas commended the 104 legislators who voted against House Bill 4244 in a Pastoral Letter issued today, titled “Contraception is Corruption! A CBCP Pastoral Letter on the latest decision on the Reproductive Health Bill.”
“We congratulate the one hundred four (104) congressmen and women who voted NO to the RH Bill. You have voted courageously, despite all pressures, to stand up for what is right and true. The Church will remember you as the heroes of our nation, those who have said no to corruption and who care for the true welfare of the people, especially the poor. May you continue to be steadfast and not waiver in your stand against moral corruption,” Villegas said, writing on behalf of CBCP President Jose Palma, who is currently out of the country.
Villegas reiterated the body’s stand that the reproductive health (RH) bill will lead to the destruction, not the good, of the country.
‘Wrapped to look like a gift for maternal health care’
“On behalf of the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, I reiterate the collective discernment of the Philippine bishops that the RH Bill if passed into law can harm our nation. Contraception corrupts the soul. The RH Bill is being gift wrapped to look like a gift for maternal health care. It is not so. It will lead to greater crimes against women,” the prelate said.
He also pointed out that the poor and the youth are being misled, with the poor being promised a better life through the measure.
“It will not be so. The poor can rise from their misery through more accessible education, better hospitals and lesser government corruption. Money for contraceptives can be better used for education and authentic health care,” the Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop said.
The youth, on the other hand, are being led to believe that sex before marriage is acceptable as long as one avoids pregnancy, Villegas continued.
“Is this moral? Those who corrupt the minds of children will invoke divine wrath on themselves.”
Destruction of the family, greater violence against women
The RH bill, if made a law in its current form, “will put the moral fibre of our nation at risk. As we your bishops have said in the past, a contraceptive mentality is the mother of an abortion mentality. The wide and free accessibility of contraceptives, even to the youth, will result in the destruction of family life and in greater violence against women,” the prelate said.
Villegas also appealed to the more than 60 solons who either registered an abstention or were absent during the nominal voting on December 12 to stand up for the Truth.
“As St. John the Baptist directed the people to justice, we call on you also to seek justice for the Filipino people. The Church teaches us to follow our conscience, the inner sanctuary where we are alone with God (Gaudium et Spes #16), but such conscience must be formed and informed according to the universal values that are common to all human persons.”
“The truth is that to be pro-child, pro-mother and pro-poor, we must resist all threats against them,” the archbishop continued. “This is justice. Stand up for it; defend it; do not be swayed by worldly pressures, and be the champion of the people who voted for you. God knows and sees what you are doing.”
Villegas invited all the Catholic faithful to carry out their Christian duties this Christmas and to pray for the faithfulness of the country’s lawmakers to their vocation as servants of the people.
Pray for solons to be faithful
”We admonish the Filipino Catholic faithful to share with those who have less this Christmas, but also share in praying that our congressmen and women will be faithful to their call to serve the true interests of the Filipino people. This means upholding life, saying no to contraception which is corruption, and being faithful to the Christ Child who was pro-woman, pro-child and pro-poor,” he said. (CBCP for Life)
