Wednesday, September 5, 2012

ALERTS - Lower and Upper House


I.  


"Today (5 September) is a very critical day in Congress, the Secretary General was instructed to call members of Congress to attend to ensure a quorum. They would push for approval of the RH bill. Please pray, and be in Congress today. Wear red, and bring the Rosary."  Fr. Melvin Castro

II.   
Sen. Sotto will deliver his 3rd installment of his Turno en Contra on the RH Bill. today, 5 September at 3pm. Please pray for the good Senator and likewise mobilize our forces to support his cause & please come to the Senate. 
Thank you and God Bless! Please pass...

Monday, August 13, 2012

Feedback on RH


Population, poverty, politics and RH bill
By: 30 University of the Philippines economists
Philippine Daily Inquirer, 7.28.12

10 August 2012
Ernesto M. Pernia, Stella Alabastro-Quimbo, Maria Joy V. Abrenica, Ruperto P. Alonzo, Agustin L. Arcenas, Arsenio M. Balisacan, Dante B. Canlas, Joseph J. Capuno, Ramon L. Clarete, Rolando A. Danao, Emmanuel S. de Dios, Aleli de la Paz-Kraft, Benjamin E. Diokno, Geoffrey M. Ducanes, Marina B. Durano, Emmanuel F. Esguerra, Raul V. Fabella, Teresa J. Ho, Dennis Claire S. Mapa, Felipe M. Medalla, Maria Nimfa F. Mendoza, Solita C. Monsod, Toby Melissa C. Monsod, Fidelina Natividad-Carlos, Aniceto C. Orbeta, Cayetano W. Paderanga, Majah-Leah V. Ravago, Gerardo P. Sicat, Orville C. Solon and Edita A. Tan.

Dear Sirs/Madams:

Greetings!

This refers to your article in the Inquirer, Opinion Talk of the Town, titled “Population,poverty, politics, and RH bill on July 28, 2012. I understand that you are truly convinced that poverty will hinder economic growth and that you think that the Catholic Church is instrumental in not moving the nation forward. Please allow me to share with you some facts that show the Church wants what’s good for everybody.

Understand that the Church has an obligation to protect her children regarding faith and morals. Former Senator Francisco Tatad tells us the division which the RH produces.

“To the country’s Roman Catholics, the bill is an undisguised anti-Catholic measure. It  savages an important doctrine of their faith, and then requires them to provide the tax money to fund the program that would attack their faith.  The bill is arrogantly  telling Catholics not to learn their faith from their Church but to learn it from Congress instead.

“It is religious persecution pure and simple, a perversion of Church-State relationship, and the victim is not a small religious minority but rather the overwhelming majority of 95 million Filipinos.  

“P-Noy has been told not to fear  the Catholics. The bishops issue no fatwas, and there are no suicide bombers among the laity, they are not even  armed like some Muslim Filipinos.  Neither are they as politically organized as some  powerful politico-religious sect, which votes as a bloc during elections. ‘There is no such thing as a Catholic vote,’ P-Noy has been told.

“Indeed, in a predominantly Catholic country where almost everyone running for office is a baptized (even if lapsed) Catholic, people do not vote as ‘Catholics’.  But should the Aquino government ever enact a law that attacks a doctrine of the Catholic faith,  as surely as the sun rises in the East, there will be a Catholic response. It could be a Catholic vote, a Catholic protest, or maybe even a Catholic revolt.  No one can say, but there will be a Catholic response.

“This is well explained  in Humanae Vitae, a 1968 encyclical by Pope Paul VI, which condemns contraception and sterilization as ‘intrinsically evil’.  The encyclical marked its 44th anniversary on July 25, the same day the House leadership decided to fast track the RH bill.  

“Anti-RH advocates like to point out that  Paul VI’s prophetic warnings about the ill effects of contraception have all come to pass.   True to his warning,  contraception has led to widespread conjugal infidelity and a general lowering of morality;  men have ceased respecting women in their totality and  have begun treating them as mere instruments of selfish enjoyment rather than as cherished partners; the widespread acceptance of contraception by couples has encouraged unscrupulous governments to intrude into the sanctity and privacy of families.” (Francisco S. Tatad in his article “How far will the President go to test the Church?)

It is true that the RH bill believes that abortion is illegal and unconstitutional, but take note that most of the artificial birth control methods like Oral Contraceptive Pills and IUD are abortifacient according to Dr. Chris Kahlenborn in her article How Do the Pill and Other Contraceptives Work?http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/kah/kah_03howpillworks1.html

The abortifacient nature of OCP and IUD use is openly admitted by the most ardent pro-abortion supporters. In his arguments before the Supreme Court in 1989, in a case that received worldwide publicity -- the case of Webster versus Reproductive Health Services -- Mr. Frank Susman, arguing for the pro-abortion side spoke to Justice Anthony Scalia and stated: "If I may suggest the reasons in response to your question, Justice Scalia. The most common forms of what we generally in common parlance call contraception today, IUD's, and low-dose birth control pills, which are the safest type of birth control pills available, act as abortifacients. They are correctly labeled as both." (The New York Times, 1989:)  Alderson Reporting Company. Transcripts of oral arguments before court on abortion case. The New York Times. April 27, 1989: B12

On poverty, Dr. Bernardo Villegas firmly states that the cause of poverty is not the number of children of the family but the lack of education of their heads. ‘Unwanted pregnancies’ are exceptional cases like rape. Large families do want large families for reasons of children seen as a help in work and old age.

“The observation that many large families are poor makes some people conclude that it is too many children that causes a family to be poor.  Is this a correct conclusion?  Dr. Roberto de Vera, one of the few economic demographers in the country, graduate of the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S., answers with a resounding No.  Mustering data from existing Family Income and Expenditure surveys of the Government, he exposes the error of concluding that it is the large size that makes a Filipino family poor.
“He starts with the seeming evidence that poverty is directly proportional to the number of children in a household.  From the 2000 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), he points out that there is an increasing proportion of poor families as family size increases:  from 4.9% in families with no children to 59.1% in families with seven children.  He then shows why it is an erroneous inference to conclude that this observation should be a basis for limiting the family size of poor people.  He argues:  ‘First, finding that increasing family size is associated with increasing incidence of poor families does not prove that a large family size is what makes a family poor.  The more likely reason why some families are poor is the limited schooling of the household head.  In fact, 78% to 90% of the poor households in each family size had heads with no high school diploma.  In other words, poor families are poor not because they are large but because most of their heads attended few years of schooling.’  To belabor the point, a family with no or few children would still be poor if its head has had meager education.  A large family (and I can cite many examples in Forbes Park and Dasmarinas Village) can be rich if its head has had many years of schooling.
“This more intelligent reading of the data of the FIES can be an empirical support for the enlightened view of nine congress people, i.e., Dakila Carlo E. Cua, Rachel Marguerite B. del Mar, Fatima Aliah Q.Dimaporo, Lucy T.  Gomez, Karlo Alexei B. Nograles, Gabriel R. Quisumbing, Irwin C. Tiong, Mariano Michael M. Velarde Jr. and Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco, who would want the P3 billion proposed appropriation for the RH Bill to be instead spent directly on education.  They did their homework and found out that this P3 billion can build 4,644 new classrooms, enough to wipe out classroom shortages in the provinces of Batangas, Cebu, Nueva Ecija, South Cotabato, and Valenzuela City.  Or the same amount can subsidize the college education of 300,000 scholars--a chance of underprivileged student achievers to earn their diplomas.  Another opportunity cost of the P3 billion is the hiring of 13,000 additional teachers for our public schools.   It is heartening that our younger politicians are more forward looking and are really talking the language of sustainable development and inclusive growth.  Improving the quality of basic education in the Philippines is the most productive use of limited funds to guarantee the welfare of future generation (sustainability) and a more equitable distribution of income and wealth (equity).
“The other finding of Dr. de Vera in his research on demography is that poor parents do consider the consequences of their procreative capacities.  There is usually the condescending attitude of some proponents of the RH Bill that poor people are irrationally ‘multiplying like rabbits.’  Dr. de Vera cites evidence from a Harvard professor, Lant Priitchett that 90% of the variation in actual fertility rates can be accounted for by variations in desired fertility rates.  In other words, parents who have large families want large families.  Parents want the children they actually beget.  The so-called ‘unwanted pregnancies’ are the exception in the same way that what eventually led to the killing of millions of babies in the U.S. was an extremely exceptional case of a woman getting pregnant when she was raped (Roe Vs. Wade).
“Dr. de Vera cites plausible reasons why families may decide to have a large family in the Philippine setting.  First, farmers without infrastructural support and such equipment as tractors  and post-harvest facilities may find it reasonable to have four or more children who can help out as farm hands.  Second, parents with no access to social security, pension and medical care packages may have the motivation to have more children with the hope that one or more of them would take care of their parents in old age.  For millions of families who depend on the remittances of their children and other relatives who work overseas, this no mere hope but a very real phenomenon.
“To further support his hypothesis about the critical role of education and rural infrastructure in combatting poverty, Dr. de Vera refers to the 2002 Balisacan and Pernia study on poverty incidence in Philippine regions.  Their main conclusion was that the provision of education, together with roads, helps reduce poverty.  In other words, persons get the full returns on their education only if they have access to jobs that pay good wages and to markets that pay good prices for the goods they produce.  The study also showed that agrarian reform and irrigation alleviate poverty.  This finding is very consistent with the empirical observation of Dr. Balisacan that poverty is mainly a rural phenomenon, with nearly two-thirds of the rural poor working in agriculture.  I think it is about time that the more mature people in the House of Representatives listen more to their younger colleagues who think passing the RH Bill would involve a great waste of very scarce funds.  Kudos to these young congress people who are steeped in the economic concept of opportunity cost.” Dr. Bernardo Villegas in his article “Why Large Families Are Poor”. http://bernardovillegas.org/index.php?go=/Articles/133/

Natural Family Planning does work. Here is a data which shows the effectiveness of Natural Family Planning. It is objective enough to be considered as a valid fact.

“The most commonly quoted measure of effectiveness is the Pearl Index, which is defined as the number of unintended pregnancies per hundred women per year - that is, the number of pregnancies in 1200 observed months of use.

2. Pearl Indices for Various Family Planning Methods
Method
Pearl Index - 'Perfect Use'
Pearl Index - 'Actual Use'
Pill
0.1-0.5*
3
Natural Family Planning (NFP)
0.3
2.8
Intra Uterine Device (IUD)
1.5
2
Male Condom
3
12
Female Condom
5
21
Diaphragm + Spermicide
6
18
Withdrawal
4
19
Spermicide Alone
6
21


It’s best if those of you who are truly concerned with the Maternal Mortality Rate, which we all are, will work together with Prolife people and the Church. This news excerpt “Chile Receives International Pro-Life Award by Sarah Crawford published on March 11,2011in http://www.texasrighttolife.com/a/630/Chile-Receives-International-ProLife-Award shows that Prolife has low Maternity Mortality Rate as priority.

“The people of Chile have been honored with the first-ever International Protect Life Award.  Chile was commended for being Latin America’s most Pro-Life nation, as well as having the lowest maternal mortality rate in Latin America.  The award was based on Chile’s extraordinary achievements that help to protect the health and lives of all Chileans, born and unborn.  

“The Alliance Defense Fund and 30 other non-government agencies make up the International Protect Life Committee of the United Nations.  The letter to President Piñera, which was also sent to Chile’s Ambassador to the UN, states that, ‘Chile has attained the lowest maternal mortality rate in all of Latin America! More Chilean women have safely delivered their babies than ever before!  This is a great advancement in the area of women’s health, and an example for other countries working to achieve the reduction of maternal mortality, a key element of the UN Millennium Development Goals.’ 

“President Piñera is well-known for his support of the unborn, and in an article in L'Osservatore Romano on March 3rd, the same day Piñera met with Pope Benedict XIV, he again stood up for life saying that ‘[Chile’s] democracy protects human rights, especially the right to Life from conception to natural death.”  Many Pro-Life leaders are hoping to be able to set up a meeting with President Piñera on March 25th, Chile’s International Day of the Unborn Child, to personally recognize him and the country of Chile for their determination to protect all Life.’

I hope that we will not be misled by false reports such as the Kissinger Report of the US as well as by big pharmaceutical companies whose aim is to generate substantial profits from their sale of contraceptives.

Thank you very much for listening.


Very truly yours,

Maria Charina Rodriguez

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Prayer Rally on August 4, 1pm-7pm at EDSA Shrine


N O T I C E

Please be guided by the attached letter, from His Excellency, Bishop Gabriel V. Reyes, for the details of the August 4 "Prayer Power Rally Against the RH Bill" event,  that will be held at the EDSA Shrine. 

Letter of Invitation


Thursday, July 19, 2012

Letter to Editor


July 16, 2012
The Editor
Philippine Daily Inquirer
P.O. Box 2353, Makati Central Post Office
1263 Makati City
Dear Editor:
Subject: TELESERYE “WALANG HANGGAN” – IS THERE GOODNESS IN MAN? 
This refers to the teleserye titled “Walang Hanggan” which is now being a talk of the town for its characterization and story line.  It is being shown on ABS-CBN daily from 8:30pm to 9:30 pm.  In its episode last Friday, July 13, 2012,  I almost jumped from my seat because  of a suicide attempt of Nathan.  I find psychological stories very interesting and I couldn’t wait to view it again Monday, July 16, to see what happened next.  But as an avid fan of psychological stories, I was a bit disappointed with the flow of the story. I think  the teleserye  is unrealistic because of the following:
1.       No presence of mental health professionals.  Nathan comes from a prominent family living in Manila. Surely they can afford the best psychiatric care. The best psychiatrists in Manila are on teamwork with other health professionals to educate families about the condition of their loved ones and educate patients on their illness. Lately, there have been many improvements in psychiatric care and it seems that ‘Walang Hanggan’ is outdated with its script setting. The danger with this unrealistic setting is that it worsens the discrimination and stigma associated with mental illness because of sloppy script portrayed in media. Since ‘Walang Hanggan is set in a contemporary time, it doesn’t give credit to the mental health professionals who work hard to fight the stigma and discrimination towards their profession, to patients, and to families who have loved ones with mental illness.
2.       Suicide. No person in his right mind can fake a suicide attempt no matter how manipulative he is. Anybody who points a gun upon himself, attempted or accomplished, is definitely very sick. The ‘Walang Hanggan’ script is sending a very dangerous message that one can fake suicide, thus, preventing others to help those who attempt it. Attempting suicide is already an acute psychiatric case. It is a ground for a person to be confined in a psychiatric ward because the nature of man is self-preservation. It’s not normal for a human being to kill oneself, more so for a person to fake it.
3.       Marriage. Although mental illness is a ground for annulment, true love surpasses the health condition of a loved one. Nathan and his wife were married. They promised to be together for better or worse, in sickness and in health. The wife of Nathan is not setting a good model of a wife. Her infidelity and lack of sincerity to her promises as a wife is not setting a good model to the viewers. It further triggers stigma and discrimination to the mentally ill who are known to lack self-esteem due to of their chemical imbalance. Those who are seriously depressed would think that no one will have them in marriage when, in fact, there are a lot of marriages that work in spite of mental illness.
4.       Relationship between brothers. The family is sacred because relationships among family members are very deep and mysterious. Life in the family is not always dark no matter how dysfunctional it is. Normal brothers and sisters also share good times together. No brother would think that his brother is by nature ‘bad’. Family members have  a natural tendency to help each other in difficult times. The ‘Walang Hanggan’ script is not realistic because the father and mother are good people but their children are bad. They also have good grandmother.  Good parents naturally pass their goodness to their children.
I understand that ‘Walang Hanggan’ is a work of fiction. But works of fiction contain power. On the negative side, we hear young adults commit suicide because they think they are Superman by idolizing Superman movies.
            Wouldn’t it be nice if a fiction would bring us to the positive side of life? Wouldn’t it be more helpful if a popular teleserye would mirror the good in man so as to help build a more caring and loving society? Wouldn’t it be ideal if the teleserye is a vehicle for the  viewers to live unity and good will and bring peace to our hearts and minds?
I strongly suggest that the writer and/or director of ‘Walang Hanggan’ update themselves about mental illness and mental health by going to hospitals and institutions that have Family Support Groups  where mental health professionals work together to help families and patients. It’s suggested for them to attend psycho-education program  about mental illness and mental health. They need to know the current situation of mental health,  in order to make the setting of ‘Walang Hanggan’ realistic  and make it a true  work of art,  while at the same time wholesome, entertaining and enlightening the many TV viewers. 
Thank you.
Very truly yours,
Maria Charina Rodriguez

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Hitler, Nabuang sa Hindi Pagpasa ng RH Bill Ngayong Taon

Friends,

While we're taking care of various concerns in preparation for Christmas Day, then working to be in solidarity with our countrymen affected by the flooding and landslides in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, let's also take time to watch this short parody that somehow summarizes the highlights of this year's fight against the RH bill. It is meant to be light and funny, but also informative. This is backed up by facts.

Don't forget to click on "like" on YouTube because too many "dislikes" will lead it to be taken down.



The Hitler Video has reached a lot of pro lifers who are unanimous in saying that the person who did this is a genius!  Now all we have to do is to reshare it.  The following references were dug up re the major points discussed in the video. If you would be resharing the video, reshare it with the following references.

Fact References:

1. 350 pesos per hakot -- see Inquirer article:http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/103857/no-delay-but-rh-bill-won%E2%80%99t-be-pas... -- The group scheduled the "peak" of its pro-RH rally for September and set aside P1,750,000 to organize a rally of "at least 5,000 people." Each participant was supposed to receive P350.

2. More Pro-life People than Anti-Life --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproductive_Health_Bill#Rallies

3. RH Bill can be defeated at Senate:http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/109363/hasty-vote-will-kill-rh-bill%E2%80%94enrile

4. Million of dollars of funding -- http://cbcpforlife.com/?p=5141

5. Pro-RH Groups back abortion -- http://cbcpforlife.com/?p=3477

6. Cabral admitted that pills cause breast cancer -http://opinion.inquirer.net/5067/chant-the-rh-mantras

7. TV Debates won by Pro-life: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproductive_Health_Bill#Opinion_polls_and_TV_de...

8. Pro RH stats are wrong (maternal death, abortion) -http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/49029/studies-show-maternal-deaths-in-philippine... / http://cbcpforlife.com/?p=3512

9. Non-existent lobby groups (not registered or revoked) getting massive funding -- http://cbcpforlife.com/?p=5178

10. Pro-Life Victory of 2011 - http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/12/11/anti-rh-groups-declare...

11. Population Control connection with Hitler-http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleid=399988 / http://newworldorderuniversity.com/?p=3930


Thursday, October 20, 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

http://cbcpforlife.com/?p=3891

Various youth sectors unite to support 9YL, launch youth alliance



MANILA, Sept. 29, 2011–The event that gathered nine young lawmakers who have declared their opposition to House Bill 4244 also served as the launching of Youth United for the Philippines or YUP! a new coalition of youth groups united by their objective of affirming real needs of “education, jobs and health care for all,” and backing the solons who serve as the “voice of the youth,” according to Lanao del Norte Rep. Fatima Aliah Dimaporo.

Current member organizations of YUP! are the University of Asia and the Pacific’s CATALYST, World Youth Alliance Asia Pacific, Live Pure Movement, Pro-Life Youth Philippines, YouthPinoy.com and CFCP Youth for Family and Life among others.

University of the Philippines student John Juat composed a poem in “tribute” to the nine young Congress leaders posted on his Facebook wall.

“If we should truly progress, we should have one vision. We should try to find a way to end graft and corruption. Use our wealth wisely, ensure its proper allocation, rather than promote harmful means to limit population,” part of it read.

Expressions of dedication and support have also not been exclusively from among students. Pregnant young mother Marielle Abella, who attended the event with other expectant women, read her message to the solons after the main rally, expressing her gratitude for their “courage.”

 

“Ang inyong pagtutol sa RH bill ay kasagutan sa aming patuloy na panalangin, na sanay’ maliwanagan ang ating mga mambabatas, sa tunay na makabubuti sa ating lipunan tungkol sa usaping ito,” Abella said.

Paolo Sandejas, a third-grader from Southridge School, also recited a message of thanks to the lawmakers.

“Thank you for fighting against the RH bill… Don’t worry if the pro-RH people will attack you. We the Filipino children are behind you, we will defend you,” he said. (CBCP for Life)


Tuesday, September 27, 2011

YUP group on Facebook


Tina Avenido posted in La Tertulia.
A new group called YUP! has just been created....
Tina Avenido5:20pm Sep 25
A new group called YUP! has just been created. "YUP is a youth coalition that advocates real long-term progress for the Philippines. We believe that following reason and ethics will actualize the future we deserve."

YUP! needs more than 200 fans. Please forward the message below to your friends and please ask them to register their youth groups to us and ask all their members to join YUP!

Check out the page and LIKE it at:

http://www.facebook.com/weareyup
Please read on for the latest about YUP! and how you can support it.
---------
The pro-RH camp are claiming that the young people are asking congress to pass the RH bill. We do not think it is true. Can you help us spread a youth coalition called YUP! (youth united for the philippines)?

Its motto on the RH bill issue is:

YUP! to education, jobs & healthcare for all
Nope to RH bill!

You may just forward the email below to the young people in your diocese. Please ask them to help us spread it. We need 100,000 likes in FACEBOOK to show the congressmen that we are much more than those who are pushing the RH bill.

Please feel free to forward this to as many people as possible.

Thanks,
YUP!

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Hello everyone,

Here's more for our campaign to oppose the RH bill.

We made a youth coalition called YUP! or Youth United for the Philippines, which will be launched on Sep 28 at UA&P. It will be a youth rally with special guests including Christine Jacob-Sandejas and Chris Tiu.

Our motto on the RH bill issue is:
YUP! to education, jobs & healthcare for all
Nope to RH bill!

Please "Like" http://facebook.com/weareyup.

And below are tips on how to promote YUP! in the social media world. We're aiming to get as many young people as possible -- though the not-so-young are always welcome. :)

Thank you very much for the support!

==

Let's do this:

1. Change our profile pics to the icon attached
2. Share the YUP! page on our personal FB pages
3. Use the hashtag #yup when tweeting
4. Email friends and mailing lists about the page
5. Post link to FB pages of pro-life groups
6. Tell your online communities (e.g. FB groups) about the YUP! page
7. Tell friends to do the same ^^

Here's a suggested line: "YUP! I'm part of Youth United for the Philippines (and LIFE!)" Join our fanpage and invite all your friends to do the same! :)
Youth United for the Philippines (YUP!)YUP! is a coalition of youth groups that advocate real long-term progress for the Philippines. We be