MANILA, July 13, 2011?Lay leaders of the Family and Life apostolate of some 12 dioceses and two archdioceses in the Southern Tagalog region and parts of Metro Manila resolved to intensify their fight against the “death bills†and rekindle the promotion of Natural Family Planning (NFP) during their two-day summit in Tagaytay City.
The apostolate workers and priest-directors gathered at the Betania Retreat House for the Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL)-Human Life International (HLI) Philippines Leaders’ Summit.
HLI Philippines director Dr. Rene Bullecer opened the conference while ECFL executive secretary Rev. Fr. Melvin Castro welcomed the delegates from the Prelature of Infanta , Dioceses of San Pablo, Marinduque, Calapan, Romblon, Lucena, Gumaca, Imus, Antipolo, Paranaque and Cubao, and the Archdioceses of Lipa and Manila.
Atty. Jo Aurea Imbong, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Legal Office, and Bullecer were the resource speakers.
Imbong tackled issues on genuine human rights against false human rights, and Bullecer discussed the latest on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.
To intensify the pro-life advocacy in the different dioceses, the possibility of designating a pro-life coordinator within the diocesan commission level separate from the Family & Life Apostolate and NFP coordinators was considered. This would then allow the latter to focus more on fertility awareness programs.
According to Castro, this year’s ECFL National Convention will be held in November in Antipolo City. (George Dee)
