hopes rise for RH

it was quite close: 113 yes, 104 no, 3 abstentions.  so the NAYS may have sounded as loud as the AYES in the viva voce, therefore valid naman the anti-RH call for nominal voting.  also, the hope may have been that, with the church watching from the gallery, the undecided / ambivalent / wishywashy reps who believe in a catholic vote might be intimidated enough to vote against the bill.  which may explain the slim margin, clearly not representative of the 7 out of 10 filipinos who favor RH.

there’s talk, of course, as usual, of rewards from either the palace or the church in exchange for a yes or a no.  no one’s offered any proof, of course, and i wouldn’t even have mentioned it except that on ANC i just heard a report that the president denies he dangled pork barrel funds for the passage of the RH bill. makes you wonder what kind of rewards the church, for its part, mayhap dangles for the defeat of the RH bill.  the anti-RH catholic vote?  but that’s only 3 out of 10 filipinos at best?

which, again, makes you wonder why, over in the senate, a minority is calling the shots on the RH bill. sotto has managed to delay delay delay his final interpellation, kung kailan he promises to demand amendments that will allegedly seal all alleged windows, cracks, holes through which a pro-abortion law might allegedly steal through in some alleged future.  fortunately, senators pia and miriam are no pushovers.

samantala, the church has not conceded defeat on the RH fight, umaasa malamang na some reps will change their votes and swing the tide in their favor on third and final reading.  sana naman hindi.  sana, kabaligtaran ang maganap — NO votes going YES on third reading, alang-alang sa kababaihan.

here’s a list of the 104 NAY-sayers and 3 abstainers: kalampagin to vote YES, if s/he’s your representative!

here’s a list of the 113 AYES-who-have-it: palakpakan at iboto muli!

read, too, RH Bill Voting: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 

Comments

  1. This is a defining moment for the Philippines. It stands as a nation independent of the Church, or it continues to bind itself to the backward and harmful ideals of the dark ages when women were second class citizens, pleasure toys for the guys, barred even from the right to make choices about their own bodies. I rather imagine this as a form of molestation in super slow motion.

  2. manuelbuencamino

    Angela,

    I believe that all of them, the yes and no votes, voted for something they believed in. And I think it’s really good to fight for what you believe. But as my favorite philosopher Jack Handy asked, what if what you believe in is stupid? That I think is crux of the RH issue.

    • manuelbuencamino

      The man is petty. Returning gifts. And then calling himself a knucklehead and Miriam brilliant after she schooled him on international law during the RH debates. It’s time for him and his two idiot lieutenants sotto and jinggoy to go. Lito Lapid has enough brains to know when to keep his mouth shut, Enrile’s idiots don’t.

      • manuel, anong say mo sa YES vote ni jack enrile sa RH? i figure it was with johnny’s okay, for the RH votes. maybe JPE’s so sure he can block it in the senate anyway? there must be some major wheeling-n-dealing going on. kahiyaan na.

        • manuelbuencamino

          Angela,

          Jack and dad don’t always see eye to eye. Did you read that news item about Jack criticizing his father’s business decisions? Jack said his father’s decision to build monuments to himself simultaneously – Jaka bldg in ayala ave and splendido golf course in tagaytay – is why they ran out of funds to complete the building. Parang tinawag niyang tanga ang tatay niya for making a business decision based on vanity