By Phil Star - The Senate begins plenary deliberations on the reproductive health (RH) bill this week.
Sen. Pia Cayetano, principal author of Senate Bill 2865 under Committee Report No. 49, said she expects the interpellations to start after Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago delivers the first of her three-part co-sponsorship speech in today’s session.
She said she looks forward to “intelligent discussions” on the measure.
“I look forward to explaining the different issues and defending the RH bill before my colleagues as an urgent measure that will save the lives of mothers, the newborn and the unborn. I also hope to clarify whatever misconceptions they may have in the course of the plenary debates,” Cayetano said.
Intelligent, informative debates
“I do expect sparks to fly from time to time, but I trust the Senate debates to be intelligent, informative and firmly focused on relevant issues related to the measure. The public can follow the debates and actually learn along with us [senators] by monitoring the proceedings through live streaming on the Senate website www.senate.gov.ph and through media news reports,” Cayetano said.
She said she would focus on socioeconomics, including maternal and child health, family planning concerns, statistics and other social issues, while Santiago would deal with Catholic theology and constitutional and international law.
At least 20 senators signed Committee Report No. 49 before the Senate adjourned its first regular session last June. But 13 signed with reservations or signified their intention to interpellate.
Cayetano had expressed confidence that President Aquino continues to support the RH bill, even if he made no reference to the measure in his second State of the Nation Address.
