Over a month ago, staunch idiot Rep. Roilo Golez, had the gall to "friend" me on Facebook. After accepting his request, of course, I wrote about what a myopic jerk he is on his wall. He quickly replied "Carlos. I thought Facebook was only for proper discussions." and immediately "unfriended" me and blocked my profile.
And now, The Reproductive Health Advocacy Network sends me this. Of course, Rep. Golez, being ever the black hearted lawyer that he is, has resorted to delay tactics to hinder the immediate passage of this bill. Meanwhile, mothers and children die everyday with no hope of large scale relief in site - thanks to this man.
But remember, we still HAVE the numbers, but thanks to a few jerks, the prize won't be coming for a while. Earliest passage is APRIL unless we find creative ways to convince Congress to hurry the F*** up.
Please read:
Dear co-RH advocates.
Thank you very much for supporting the online petition calling for the immediate passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill by Congress. It is now 2009 and the advocacy for the bill has become more urgent.
There is good news and bad news.
The good news are: the RH Bill remains a priority of the House of Representatives (HOR) leadership and the bill's principal author, Rep. Edcel Lagman; and, to date, not one of the 113 co-authors has backed out despite the very strong campaign against the bill.
The HOR resumed its plenary debate last 27 January 2009. This comes at the heels of the latest surveys separately conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) and Pulse Asia which found that the big majority of Filipinos favor the passage of the RH Bill.
The bad news is that anti-RH legislators continue with their delaying tactics and dirty tricks. Of the listed 22 interpellators, only one has finished and the second, Rep. Golez of Parañaque City seems hell-bent on delaying the proceedings some more by resorting to insulting not only the principal author but also the advocates and misrepresenting data he claimed to have come from the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Statistics Office (NSO) which were flatly and officially denied by the two offices.
These tactics are at the expense of the people's money (about P12.5 million representing the HOR's daily budget) wasted on Representatives who refuse to listen to the people's will and women's lives as 11 Filipino women die daily due to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications. It may sound dramatic but now, more than ever, we need to band together and increase the pressure on our legislators. Enough is enough!
The following are the things we can do together:
1) Write to your Congress representative about the urgency of passing and your support for the RH Bill.
2) Write a Letter to the Editor about your stand and support of the RH Bill and send it to your favorite broadsheet daily.
3) Join us as we monitor the proceedings at the HOR.
5) Wear your sentiments on your sleeve or your car, as the case may be. RHAN produced spiffy pro-RH stickers and pins. You may get one from the RHAN Secretariat. Call 927-1766 from 9 am to 6 pm. (I'll be getting a few of these soon and will be giving them out).
Let us not be defeated by those who refuse to hear our voices. Please pass this to as many friends, colleagues, and family members who can support our cause.
Thank you very much and looking forward to your active involvement.
Elizabeth Angsioco
Secretary-General
Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN)
