i didn’t even “know” rhian ramos before the sh*t hit the fan; these showbiz girls all look the same to me.  but mo twister i couldn’t help noticing from the first because he speaks perfect english and is simpatiko naman, reminded me of martin nievera in MAD days.

that they were a couple pala i only found out when a few facebook friends posted mo-rhian related statuses.  in fairness, no one posted the video, or link, unless i missed it lang, which still means it wasn’t being posted all over the place.  which led curious me to pep.ph to get the gist and find out the latest — to wit, the video was recorded by mo while in singapore, crying over his girlfriend’s abortion against his wishes, which video was released on the internet by unidentified ones, which has led to apologies from mo, but no denials from rhian, only complaints of what-sounds-like emotional battering.

meanwhile, elizabeth angsiaco was tweeting like mad from the senate as filibustering on the RH bill proceeded and senator tito sotto had the floor again and was again discoursing on RH as in-aid-of-abortion or something as disputable.  which led me to post this status:

the mo & rhian story, in the context of RH debates in congress, is HOT.  interesting that nothing much is being said in social media in defense (or offense) of either mo or rhian.  one would think that the pro-life would be taking mo’s side, and the pro-choice, rhian’s.  but it’s more complicated than that, ‘no? … yung pro-RH naman natin ay hindi all-out pro-choice

commented orlando roncesvalles, a virtual friend and fellow blogger:

this is a difficult issue.  “choice” in “pro-choice” is a crime in PH so long as the courts define a conceived fetus as a natural person.  if i remember, roe v. wade turned in part on texas common law that a non-viable fetus was not yet a human being.

and yet abortion, a mortal sin acc to the church, a crime acc to ph law, happens everyday around here.  we all know someone who has resorted to it for one reason or another at one time or another.

the silence, including the legislators’, on this particular allegation of abortion, though not unexpected, is intriguing.  is it to spare the girl, whom it would seem we don’t want to condemn because the guy has punished her enough?  or are we giving her the benefit of the doubt since she has yet to confirm or deny?  (ako, i’m eagerly awaiting her lawyer lorna kapunan’s defense strategy: admit or deny or dedma.)

but more than anything, the silence reflects on the RH bill:  it seeks to address the needs only of poor women who have no access to info re birth control and/or contraceptive methods and devices, and who therefore, in many cases, resort to abortion.  this is really also to say that women who are educated and well-to-do need no help and don’t resort to abortion.

in fact the only difference between poor and rich women in this country of macho moralists who have no respect for women’s rights is that poor women have only hilots and sleazy clinics to run to where methods are crude and painful and life-threatening, while rich women have access to expensive facilities and safe and painless procedures, here and abroad.

says philstar‘s cito beltran:

…lets face the facts, ABORTIONS have been happening in this country, in schools, colleges and universities from the fifties, all up to today. Some women were forced to do it by their partner or by social pressure, or fear. But I also know of young women who had abortions because pregnancy would ruin their careers or their life. Men have been party to them or have been opposed to them but could not stop them.

We are a nation that has lived with this generational lie, we are a society that has opted to live in denial and ignorance rather than do something educated, civilized and Godly about pre-marital sex, about sex education and most especially about unwanted pregnancy. And while factions were fighting as they do today, the killing of unwanted babies continued.

yes, it’s time to face facts.