Mr.

President, esteemed colleagues:

It is with utmost joy and honor that I stand here to co-sponsor Senate Bill No.1134 introduced by Senator
Tuazon, that seeks to provide rights to women and adolescents in making decisions about reproductive
health.
In the heated debate about the RH bill, you have not even started but you are immediately being boxed in.
Mr. President, the Philippines is complicit with at least 3 women dying every day from unsafe abortion
complications. One raped by her stepfather died in 2012; one who was a doctor, raped by an older man
who funded her medical education, died in 2004. Another one was of teenage pregnancy who died in 2015
due to her risky childbirth. Complications from unsafe abortion is one of the 5 leading causes of maternal
death and a leading cause of hospitalization in the Philippines.
As member of the Senate, as the people's voice, this discussion is about who is willing to listen to the
people and who wishes to ignore the truth: (What truth?) that there is a chronic and huge demand for
reproductive health programs and services.
Ano pa’t naging kinatawan tayo ng mga mamamayan kung hindi natin sila papakinggan?
Teen pregnancy costs a young mother as high as 83,000 a year, with NEDA estimating that the Philippine
economy loses as much as 42 billion in lifetime income. These macrolevel numbers are easy to quantify,
but for our young parents, their losses may be incalculable in terms of lost opportunities or missed
chances.
Binibigyan natin ng armas ang mga kababaihan (bakit?) for it aims to dispel myths that perpetuate
concerns and incorrect perceptions about how our bodies work (especially young and poor women? it
seeks to counter ignorance and misinformation)
In a study, it was found that 80% of girls have no knowledge even about their menstrual cycle, and what is
its relationship with pregnancy. They don’t even have the basic knowledge about the safe and unsafe time
to have sex. They are at risk and they are vulnerable because they lack access to information about their
reproductive health. They are in danger because there are no programs that can help them eliminate these
risks, educate them about healthy sexual behavior, and arm them with tools to prevent sexual abuse.
According to the WHO, Filipino women, most of them young, resort to abortion – 800,000 a year, not
because they are reckless or unethical, but because they lack understanding about how to plan their
pregnancies.
We must at least agree to stick to the truth and scrutinize the text of the bill without embellishments. In
our disagreement on this bill, we must not lose our integrity and our sense of truth. As legislators, we must
not lose our commitment to uphold and defend the text and substance of our Constitution. At bilang mga
kagalang galang na kinatawan, sana ay di natin makalimutan na tayo ay nandito para pakinggan ang
boses ng bayan.

Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat, at mabuhay ang mga kababaihan!

SALVADOR: Mr. President, this bill allows free access to family planning methods, again, we push for a
variety of options to prevent pregnancy. It is not mandatory nor penal in nature. We will not force every
woman to use such products, but we’re giving them options if they choose not to procreate or to conceive.
CASTRO: Since she had mentioned that it is for every woman, and even in the bill that it will be accessible
to “EVERYONE”, if that’s so, then we are allowing children to have these products such as condoms?
SALVADOR: Mr. President, that’s not what I am implying.
CASTRO: But clearly you said that it’s for everyone. If we integrate this kind of education and make these
products accessible to all, then it’s like we’re giving them licenses to just have sex, especially minors.

SALVADOR: Mr. President, the Senator seems to not understand the point of this bill. What we are pushing
is to allow citizens, especially women, to be educated regarding reproductive health. We are not promoting
premarital sex if that’s what Senator Castro is implying for.
Why, do we want our children to be ignorant about their own bodies? Do we want our children to still think
that they came from an ape? Is that what the opposition wants?
Don’t you think we are already violating their right to information, Mr. President?
CASTRO: I am not violating the right to information Mr. President; I am stating that the right to information
is not considered an absolute right in many legal systems. While it is recognized as a fundamental right in
various international and national legal frameworks, there are often limitations and restrictions placed on it.
One of them is Public Order and Morality; some information may be restricted if it is against societal
morals. Some provisions of the bill are against societal morals.
SALVADOR: How come educating the people, specifically the minors, will be against societal morals? The
irony here is we do not want our children to be ignorant, we tagged them as “Pag-asa ng Bayan” yet we
deprived them of reproductive health matters.
CASTRO: You said that we must at least agree to stick to the truth, and the truth is, abortion is punishable
by law under the revised penal code of the Philippines. Is the good Senator Salvador aware of this? If yes,
how can we align the provisions of this bill to mandate the existing laws prohibiting abortion?

SALVADOR: Mr. President, the Revised Penal Code abortion law is a penal law that continues to
perpetuate discrimination against women.
Again, may I reiterate my statement that Senator Castro had pointed out, that we must at least agree to stick
to the truth, what truth? TRUTH that Filipino women who seek treatment for complications from unsafe
abortion have repeatedly reported that the stigma around abortion means that healthcare workers only treat
women after “punishing” women who have undergone abortions by threatening to report them to the police,
harassing women verbally and physically, or delaying care. See? Even when these naturally occurring
medical conditions are not penalized by law, women are still at risk of dying. Again, see? since this law is
no longer effective as seen in the situations of many today and shown that it is having far more negative
consequences than were originally envisioned, through the passage of this bill, we can finally repeal the said
restrictive law. Since it is first and foremost our goal to end the criminalized abortion without any exceptions
to save the life of the pregnant woman. Uulitin ko, sana bilang mga kagalang galang na kinatawan, ay di
natin makalimutan na tayo ay nandito para pakinggan ang boses ng bayan. So, would you rather choose to
stay in this environment where women are left without a means to control their fertility, exposed to unsafe
abortions, and made vulnerable to abuse in the health system? Or take a stand and be counted in this fight to
save women’s lives?