About the Filipino family

WHAT makes the proposed Reproductive Health law so controversial is that it is not just about health issues. It’s social, too, and economic and moral.

There is a general consensus among the opposing sides on the provisions in the proposed RH bills concerning the need to protect women and infants and provide better maternal care. But the agreement stops there. The disputes spring mostly from the methods by which family planning can be carried out, how much public funding and private contributions will be spent to promote these family planning methods, and the expansion of sex education in schools so that the concept of family planning can be learned early on. The Philippines is listed as one of the most populous countries in the world — its development in terms of poverty-reduction and improvement of quality of life is closely linked with population control. And while majority in the country are Catholics and the clergy remain a strong influence, it also prides itself as a strong democracy where there is a separation of church and state.

Communities should get involved in the debate. People, couples and parents especially, must not simply leave the issue to politicians and the clergy and allow the warring groups to influence the decision on whether the proposed bills finally get passed or rejected in Congress without hearing what the common folk have to say. After all, the RH bill, with all its implications, is essentially about the Filipino family.

*    *    *    *    *    *

Biggest blow vs. terrorism

ON Sept. 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden’s men rammed two jets into the famed Twin Towers, tearing down New York’s iconic buildings in the world’s worst terrorist attack ever on unarmed and innocent civilians.  Humankind seethed with anger, as Bin Laden’s bizarre lust for blood that day included a deadly attack on Pentagon and the downing of a commercial plane in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people died, mostly Americans.

On May 2, 2011, Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seals (Sea, Air & Land) in a dawn operation in Abbottabad, some 60 km away from Islamabad, Pakistan.  Unarmed when cornered in his $1-million lair, Bin Laden’s left eye was hit, the bullet blowing off his brains away.

After the attack executed by 79 courageous Americans, Obama, watching the entire operation in real time from Capitol Hill’s Situation Room, said, “Justice has been done.”

Given Bin Laden’s penchant for mass murder, the death of al-Qaida’s heartless leader is the biggest blow versus terrorism thus far. The road to world peace could be at hand.

Back to Homepage

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments