Pia Cayetano’s Sponsorship Speech: A Secular Senator on the RH Bill

Count me as a fan.

After hearing all kinds of nonsense in Congress, from the religious arguments of Rep. Pablo Garcia to the superstitious ones of Rep. Roilo Golez, it was inspiring to listen to Senator Pia Cayetano’s sponsorship speech on the RH Bill.

It took more time for Garcia and Golez to blabber about what was not in the bill than for Sen. Cayetano to expound on what was actually in it. She even addressed common misconceptions and objections about the bill’s controversial provisions.

But what I liked most about her speech is that she spoke about secularism — the separation of church and state mandated by our constitution — and she did justice to it, a topic other legislators either misunderstand or disregard altogether.

If you cannot read her entire speech — which I highly recommend — at least read the excerpt below. In a country with a supposedly secular government polluted by so much nonsense, Sen. Cayetano’s rational, secular speech is a welcome breath of fresh air.

On the separation of Church and State and the freedom of religion.

Mr. President, we, as Senators have our own personal views and relationship with God. This is a part of who we are. Thus, I do not ask that we separate our moral values from our scrutiny of the bill. I simply ask that we remember that our religious views may be different from our neighbors and we cannot use our legislative seat to deprive a fellow Filipino of his legal and constitutional rights to exercise his religion, to make choices within the legal boundaries but based on his own religion and NOT ours.

Time and again, the position of the Church has been discussed as a basis for not supporting this bill, but as Senators, we are tasked to separate our religious beliefs when they interfere with matters that belong to the State. I simply ask that we recognize the right of every citizen to make choices regarding ones reproductive health based on one’s own conscience, moral and religious views.

Just because we are a predominantly Catholic country doesn’t mean we can impose Catholic dogma on every Filipino. That is the job of the clergy and they can do as they please in the Church and its activities with their flock. But, in the halls of Congress, the Constitution is clear, – – there must be a separation of Church and State. If for the sake of argument, 99.9% of Filipinos were Catholic and every single one expressed a certain view, I would still be standing here today to fight for the rights of that 1 Filipino who is entitled to choices based on his religion and not the religion of the majority … because that is the mandate of our Constitution — that we make laws respecting the freedom of religion of all without the Church interfering with matters that should be left with the State.

Following the same argument, if 99.9 % of the population belonged to a different religion, I would still stand up for that 1 Catholic to ensure that his rights were protected and that services and facilities were available to allow him to make choices based on his beliefs. Those are the principles of separation of Church and State and the freedom of religion.

17 comments

  1. I made an article. I invite everyone to read it.

    What happens after the RH bill passes and made into a law?

    Go to this link –> http://chi-28.tumblr.com/post/...

    Or this one –> http://kevinlimbo.blogspot.com...

    The links contain the same article.

    Please take the time to read everything. It isn't that long.
    It's a brief conclusion of the RH bill passing here in the Philippines.
    This might help you better and rethink everything and also, to prepare yourselves for reality.
    Excuse me, if it's a little badly written. I did it last night in one sitting. I didn't have the time to edit it. And I'm too lazy to fix it now. But I've been receiving good feedbacks from my readers anyway. So go ahead and just mind the issue in discussion.

    • Anything that man makes, he can "unmake". If a particular law, or any other law for that matter, is not being implemented as it should have been, or the desired results are not obtained even is properly implemented, there are recourses available to Juan dela Cruz, both in the law and outside of it. In the RH bill, for example, the implementing agencies are required to make regular reports to congress so its progress can be tracked. Then, there is the oversight committee which can review and institute amendments to bring the program back to track. Outside of the bill, a vigilant citizenry, including the holier-than-thou moralists if they choose to do something good for a change, can always spot abuses and report these to media so it will reach the government. Or an ordinary citizen can file for an injunction in court to have the program stopped until certain loopholes or abused are plugged/curbed.

      As in anything that is implemented for the first time (although other countries' experiences will hopefully mitigate its possible ill effects), there are risks that something will go wrong. However, assuming that the program delivers only 51% of what it promised (a worst-case scenario) in its first year, that 2% difference would mean 400,000 indigents who benefitted (assuming only 20MM pinoys live below the poverty threshhold)! That, to me, is a good start already!

      • I do hope that it turns out positively!
        Because, after all, it is a huge risk. After causing such commotion in the country and these ARE our taxpayer's money. And I just hope they wouldn't focus only on the poor.
        They should consider every citizen for this matter.
        Well, there's that.
        Now about the implementations and abuse, people rarely reports anything at all and it's become an accepted social norm. They're used to seeing such anomalies like children begging, and etc.
        Alot of things that aren't right in the society right now are most likely have been accepted by many Filipinos.
        I believe that we can make a difference if a lot of us, Filipinos, would start being more responsible and get rid of the old mentality.
        Only then would we wake up to a new Philippines.
        I doubt that we'd ever get rid of corruption. But there's still hope that we can improve, develop, and finally erase any trace of poverty in the country.

        • Eliminate corruption and poverty? You may be reaching for the stars here, cause even the most advanced countries haven't been able to do so, except to reduce them to negligible levels. As for corruption, the most they have done is to make sure that the culprits are brought to justice, if they haven't committed suicide first as a sign of remorse! But, there's always hope…

          • I didn't say we'd eliminate corruption. As I have quoted in my article, no government can exist without corruption through the monetary system.
            But on the poverty part, let me emphasize the word HOPE. 😉
            If you think that it's impossible because it hasn't been achieved yet by anyone, well, however that's the case, I believe it is attainable ideally, but no one's probably made the right steps yet. Or, we, the people, are the very ones preventing this ourselves.

  2. For shame madam Senator! you are an elected official of the Republic. How dare you make sense, use logic and the laws (of men) on your sponsorship speech.
    As an elected official, you have to quote from religious scriptures and stop using the number 4 and try contradicting yourself once in a while.

  3. I wish Manong Johnny and Tito Sen shouldn't have balked on this one–because a WOMAN is telling them. And, though family planning is a couple's undertaking, most FP methods center around the woman. And when Senator Cayetano said what she had to say, it makes sense, because, being a woman, she knows how hard it is. to bear children.

    The boys, like Manong Johnny, Tito Sotto, and especially Archbishop Cruz, cannot understand this because they don't menstruate, they don't get pregnant, they don't undergo labor and puerperium (the events after delivery). Them reacting in a negative way is weird, bordering on the sexist. Lalo na si Archbishop Cruz, who grew old without a wife and siring a kid.

  4. I can't wait to hear Sen. Santiago's sponsorship speech as the senate's bill's co-author. Hopefully, it will be a strong and colorful rebuke as well.:D

  5. thank god! i was hoping someone will utter this… the catholic church cannot shovel in everyone's throat what they want.

  6. This reminds me of Rep. Risa Hontiveros' inspired takedown of Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz's article in Newsbreak. Am I seeing a pattern here? Why do the women in our legislature, the ones like Hontiveros and Cayetano, make so much more sense than the types of Jinggoy, Bong, Enrile and Honasan?

    Could it be that excessive testosterone levels lead to higher thresholds for bigotry and bullshit?
    Kidding aside, I really am beside myself with awe. We should vote more people like her.

    On another note, I'd like to plug this video here so that no one who reads or will read this blog will ever be lost on the real purpose of the RH Bill:
    http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_p

    And this paper here cowritten by several UP school of econ professors on the subject: http://www.econ.upd.edu.ph/respub/dp/pdf/DP2004-1

    I know that most of you already know way more than I do on the subject, but too much bullshit has already been circulating around the newspapers and around the net. Let's all do ourselves a favor and stay informed.

    • Oh well. Bong is an action star, Jingoy is a fat action star, Manong Johnny is a falling star and Honasan is a Filipino gringo (not Gringo Star). LOL.

      Seriously though, putting these guys in the senate is something this country should be resentful for.

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