PNOY RELATIVE HITS ADMIN FOR RH BILL DELAY

By RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News MANILA, Philippines - A cousin-in-law of President Aquino lashed out at the administration for its failure to pass the Reproductive Health Bill into law before the end of the 15th Congress. Pangasinan Rep. Carmen Cojuangco, wife of Aquino’s 2nd degree cousin Mark Cojuangco, posted several tweets imploring the President and his allies to pass the RH Bill. “Mr. President, dying mothers & starving children need your protection. The best legacy you can leave behind is the RH Bill,” she said. She also placed a similar message on the President’s Twitter account. “Please toe the line for the RH Bill. The fate of impoverished families & dying mothers is in your hands,” she said. Cojuangco scored House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II for saying that it would be more difficult to pass the RH bill as the country inches closer to the elections. She said Gonzales’s statement only shows his inaction and failure to deliver on the President’s promise. Failure to pass is 'BS' She said the failure of the 15th Congress to give the RH Bill a chance is “BS”, noting that the Lower House approved the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Renato Corona in one day. “It has been 2 years since the 1st SONA! You have been dribbling us all along! Failure of passage before 3rd SONA is your neglect, [Majority House Leader],” she said. She accused the House of Representatives and the Aquino administration of giving false hopes to the poorest of the poor, noting that the administration “always gets what it wants, when it wants.” 'Trapo politics, political will' Responding to a tweet from ABS-CBN, Cojuangco cited lack of political will for the failure of Congress to pass the controversial reproductive health measure. She said the delay was pure “trapo politics” and that plenary debates in the House were just for show. “I am appalled at this brazen display of giving importance to politicos being afraid to do what is right just because elections are coming up! Plenary debates are just vaudeville. Puro moro-moro. In the end, leadership does what they want. Dictatorship is alive and kicking,” she said. Not a scapegoat Another lawmaker, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, said lack of time should not be made the scapegoat for lack of political will in passing the RH Bill. “If the Senate has the time to vote on its counterpart RH bill, why should the House find time elusive and running out on an allied measure which has been principally nurtured in the House. ‘If there is a will, there is a way’ is a truism in lawmaking,” he said. On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Gonzales said there was only a slim chance that the RH Bill would be passed into law because of the upcoming 2013 elections. The Commission on Elections has set on October 1-5 the deadline of filing of candidacies for all elected positions in the 2013 mid-term elections. The RH Bill is still in the period of interpellation and debate at the plenary of the House. -- MINA TENORIO mina@likhaan.org Likhaan Center for Women's Health, Inc. 88 Times Street, West Triangle Homes, Quezon City 1104 Philippines Tel: (63 2) 926-6230 Fax: (63 2) 411-3151 Email: office@likhaan.org

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