Atty. Jo Imbong on Imperialist, Non-Filipino RH Bill

Pre-colonial Filipino couple

The RH Bill did not come from Filipino legislators but from foreign organizations, Atty. Jo Imbong of the CBCP explained in English.

“It’s really introducing a different culture and replacing our own” — a culture which has been influenced by our Spanish, American, and Japanese colonizers — “with something else,” said Imbong.

“It is a cultural intrusion [in which] you supplant a beautiful thing with something that is alien,” said Imbong, possibly alluding to how our pre-Hispanic indigenous Malayo-Polynesian culture was supplanted with Spanish Catholicism.

Imbong and the CBCP oppose the RH Bill because it violates democratic rights — which originated in Greece — and religious freedom — which originated in Europe. They believe contraceptives are not a valid solution, let alone evil, consistent with the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, which was promulgated by an Italian pope from Rome.

Instead of contraceptives, Imbong and the CBCP recommend natural family planning, a birth control method discovered and developed by individuals and institutions in the Netherlands, Japan, Austria, Australia, and the United States.

“It’s quite disturbing because our culture as it is,” said Imbong, “has very wholesome ideals, built on Christian values.” Christianity, a religion that began in Palestine, was influenced by Babylonian, Egyptian, Indian, and Chinese traditions, and was institutionalized as Roman Catholicism in Italy. It has evolved significantly thanks to theologians from all over the world, except the Philippines.

40 comments

  1. Dear CBCP anti-RH bill representative/ self proclaimed pro-life advocate

    Thank you for being exactly who I think you are.

    Sincerely,
    Not as delusional as you / following your logic, I guess that makes me pro-death

  2. ang dali kasi para sa simbahan magsabi ng mga ganyan eh…Kung talagang ayaw nila sa rh bill d magsuggest nga sila ng ibang alternatibo sa d pagamit ng mga contraceptives?buti sana kung tumutulong ang singbahan sa mga milyong milyongpilipinong naghihirap…sino bang tumutulong?hindi ba’t ang gobyerno naman.Bat cla ba ang magpapakain sa mga tao/hindi naman di ba

  3. [It is a cultural intrusion [in which] you supplant a beautiful thing with something that is alien]

    I'm surprised no one mentioned the Christians/Catholics are worshiping a dead Jew.
    Shall we go back to our pagan roots?

    • [Shall we go back to our pagan roots? ]

      And offer our women an equal place in the priesthood? I'm surprised we haven't done this decades ago.

  4. Cultural Intrusion, Hhhmmm….So, What is the real Filipino Culture then? Since we are a Malay in origin, Mixed with a few Yellow race blood, A proud mixed-race and Western influenced society. Make a real point, You are simply arguing against yourself. Do you know what you are really talking about, Or you and the CBCP are just making a senseless and pointless excuse with regards to the issue?

    • [Or you and the CBCP are just making a senseless and pointless excuse with regards to the issue?]

      Consider it a sign that they are truly running out of ammo.

  5. Jo Imbong's rambling reminded me of this wonderful article from the late Nick Joaquin. May you rest in peace, good sir! http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_19….

    "Identity, I would say, is like the river inphilosophy. You remember the saying: "You can never step into the same river twice.' The river has changed even as you step into it. Nevertheless, the Sumida River remains the Sumida River, though from one moment to the next it is no longer the same river.

    This is the dynamic view of identity.

    I'm afraid that we in the Orient–oranyway we Filipinos–have a different idea of identity, different because we regard identity as static: something given once and for all, something to which things happen but is itself never a happening, never becoming. We ourselves are, or were, a fixed original identity to which certain things–alien cultures, alien histories–have been added, layer upon layer. Therefore, if such cultures and histories are addition, identity is subtraction. All we have to do is to remove all those superimposed layers and we shall end up with the true basic Filipino identity.

    That is the static view of identity.

    But culture is not simple addition. Cultureis not a stew to which you can add anything and it will still remain a stew. Instead, culture is like those laboratory experiments in physics where the moment you add a new ingredient the original mixture becomes completely transformed into something different.

    When history added the saltcellar, thefork and spoon, beef and cabbage to our culture, the identity of the Filipino was so completely transformed that there can be no going back to a pristine original even if we abolished the saltcellar, the fork and spoon, and so on. Culture and history are the flowing waters that make it impossible to step into the same river of identity twice."

  6. But, granting that the concept of the RH bill is foreign in origin, how does that make it bad in the first place when it's been refined to suit local needs? Aren't most of our laws based on concepts and ideas that were "copied" from other countries? Wasn't her legal education foreign in origin? Isn't the legal jurisprudence in the country based largely on foreign jurisprudence (remember the comfort women case where plagiarism became an embarrassing issue)? Spirit of nationalism as a justification to oppose the bill??? What will they think of next!?

  7. Ah the "banyaga" argument. very moot since almost everything about the Philippine culture is banyaga
    Let us see what in the Philippines are "banyaga":
    -Democracy: Based on America's which came from the French
    -Tagalog: A combination of Spanish, Chinese and local dialects
    -Christianity: From the Spanish. It is called ROMAN Catholic Church for a reason. Not the PHILIPPINE -Catholic Church. Its seat of power is in the Vatican.
    -Almost every piece of technology available
    -Mcdonald's: American and Jollibee: owned by a Chinoy and serves food based from America
    -Our fashion sense: More American than Filipino

    feel free to add more.

    • yung flourescent bulb daw naimbento ni agapito flores diba?

      … ay wait, na-debunk na pala yun 🙁

      ano nga ba ang talagang naimbento ng pinoy? ang jejemon phenomena?

      • I remember a Filipino was part of the team that conceptualized or was it created the moon buggy? I could be wrong. can't remember his name.

        not sure if that could be counted as "invented by a Filipino".

        • credit goes to the US yay. our best and brightest benefit other countries yay. look at more successful countries, their best are at home.

          I forget our national sport! Basketball (american)
          What other sports do filipinos thrive at: (Boxing and Soccer European)

  8. You forget to mention, Red, that our own Democracy was based on the United States Constitution, which was inspired by the French.

    And speaking of "Imperialism," I recall that two of my theo professors were German and American, respectively.

    • Pardon me but as I recall my high school American History class, was it not the American democracy that inspired the French?

      • IKR?

        And to think anti-Imperialist Jo Imbong let all this slide when she was still tenured at admu.

        Tsk. Tsk.

      • Much of American democracy borrowed ideas from the french: Rousseau (social contract), Voltaire (freedom of religion), and Montesquieu (separation of power).

  9. Kung ayaw niya ng impluwensya ng banyaga, dapat di na siya naging Katoliko. Kino-contradict niya lang sarili niya.

  10. "The RH Bill did not come from Filipino legislators but from foreign organizations, Atty. Jo Imbong of the CBCP explained in English."

    Dapat, panyera, Tinagalog mo na lang kung talagang ayaw mo sa impluwensya ng banyaga.

  11. Those things that he had mentioned that had come from "alien" countries actually worked for those countries and made them develop to what they are now.
    And here we are, all left behind 'coz the solution's already there and we're just staring at it.
    Just because the Church doesn't want to apply it here. Have any of you in the government or the church had any better methods or whatever that had any success in the Philippines so far? No? None?
    Then don't you think it's about time that we apply something that we know that is actually successful in developed countries. What do they have that we don't?
    This could be atleast a first step to getting us out of poverty and actually doing something good for the country. Enough with the ignorance. That hasn't worked so well so far, have it, now?
    How many decades or centuries must we endure and live in bigotry and ignorance.
    RH must pass now.

    • It’s CORRUPTION stupid! Not anything else that made this country miserable. Parang mag asawa na sisihin ang dami nang kanilang anak kaya sila mahirap.

      • Did I not say the "first step"? Did I say anything about getting the country completely out of poverty? No? And is it not true or correct that corruption is at large in those developed countries aswell?
        lol then how come they've went ahead of us? Because this is all how we deal with our problems. Blame everything that doesn't work for you and all your mishaps on the government.
        Now that they're actually taking action, I think that's rather good. I see a huge chance of RH bill passing. This is what kept us from improvement. The lack of action being done. And what makes us human that also separates us from animals is that we have exceptional knowledge and intelligence. If only we would educate ourselves, hindi tayo mag aanak ng mag aanak ng parang daga. I heard that from someone here sa FF. And yes, if you can't support a family of a dozen, then it's only stupidity that you still go for it and go for a basketball team. typical.
        I rest my case.

      • so much aggression 😛
        Isn't living beyond ones means the reason kung baket mahirap ang isang tao? which the RH bill it trying to address to a certain degree.

        Corruption keeps funds from reaching the poor. Can we really say it causes poverty? I would agree that corruption doesn't help alleviate poverty, but to blame everything on corruption is a little extreme. Don't you think?

        BTW not seeing things the way you do, doesn't make people stupid ^^

      • Answer these questions then we can take you seriously.
        When has the Church's faithful rallied against corruption?
        Who teaches these people na mag-anak lang ng mag-anak?
        The Church has billions of pesos in its coffers, why have they not used that to feed their hungering flock, while bishops live in extravagance?
        Catholic morality is universal then why does 6 billion people disagree or just dont care?

      • <div id="idc-comment-msg-div-158664970" class="idc-message"><a class="idc-close" title="Click to Close Message" href="javascript: IDC.ui.close_message(158664970)"><span>Close Message</span> Comment posted. <p class="idc-nomargin"><a style="text-decoration: none;" class="idc-share-facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ffilipino-freethinkers-22d5b3.ingress-earth.easywp.com%2F2011%2F06%2F02%2Fatty-jo-imbong-on-imperialist-non-filipino-rh-bill%2F#IDComment158664970&t=I%20just%20commented%20on%20Atty.%20Jo%20Imbong%20on%20Imperialist%2C%20Non-Filipino%20RH%20Bill%20%7C%20Filipino%20Freethinkers&quot; target="_new"><span class="idc-share-inner"><span>Share on Facebook</span></span> or <a href="javascript: IDC.ui.close_message(158664970)">Close Message so much aggression 😛
        Isn't living beyond ones means the reason kung baket mahirap ang isang tao? which the RH bill it trying to address to a certain degree.

        Corruption keeps funds from reaching the poor. Can we really say it causes poverty? I would agree that corruption doesn't help alleviate poverty, but to blame everything on corruption is a little extreme. Don't you think?

        BTW not seeing things the way you do, doesn't make people stupid ^^

  12. [It has evolved significantly thanks to theologians from all over the world, except the Philippines.]

    This confused me. Did it not evolve here in the Philippines or did our theologians not contribute to the evolution of it?

  13. What's funnier is that they make it sound like they consulted an independent lawyer in the headline. Turns out, she's one of their own. FAIL.

    • Agreed.

      I too am at a loss for words in the face of this statement. More so that Imbong used to be my media ethics professor in Ateneo 🙁

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