3 years ago, 26 freethinkers met for the first time in Shangri-la Starbucks to talk about reason, science, and secularism. Since then, we’ve been pretty busy:

• We’ve spread freethought on social media through Twitter (over 3,000 followers), Facebook (over 3,000 group members and almost 10,000 fans), and our website, which has almost a thousand posts, has been viewed more than half a million times, and has won the overall prize at the recent Globe Tatt Awards. (And don’t forget our forum, Tumblr, and YouTube pages, too.)
• We’ve presented the freethinker’s perspective — on secularism, skepticism, and the RH Bill — through our appearances and interviews on AM and FM radio; and both local and foreign TV.
• We’ve hosted more than a hundred events — meetups, forums, a film fest, and an excommunication party — in Metro Manila and Davao; and in our university chapters in UP Diliman, UP Manila, and DLSU.
• We’ve helped educate students on freethought and secularism, giving interviews and answering questions for homework and research papers; delivering talks and participating in panel discussions; and providing a forum for learning and discussion through our university chapters.
• We’ve become advocates and activists, mobilizing creative demonstrations for causes we believe in: fighting for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill and refuting irrational arguments against it; walking (and running) with our LGBT allies and distracting the bigots who bother them; reminding people to guard their freedom of speech from opponents who cry blasphemy and call for censorship.

And we don’t intend to stop. Just this January, we’ve presented at the World Debate Forum in Ateneo, lectured at UP Diliman and Philippine Science High School, and guested on Bottomline with Boy Abunda. (The episode will air this Saturday (Feb. 4) at 11:45PM on ABSCBN, with a replay on Sunday at 1 PM on ANC.)

To celebrate all this, we’re organizing our third forum, tentatively titled “Filipino Freethinkers Turns Three.” It will be held on March 3, 2012, a Saturday, and will probably be a whole-day event. Be sure to save the date; details will soon follow.

If you want to celebrate in advance, the best way to do so is to attend our meetup this weekend, the first of many we’ll have in our fourth year.

3 years ago

As of this afternoon, the anti-RH contingent has forcibly taken up space at the Occupy for RH campsite across from the South Wing Gate of Congress. They are trying to stay there without a permit.

We need more supporters to come tonight to be part of the Occupy for RH movement. We need reinforcements to help alleviate this situation. Please click here for more details.

Since our inception, the Filipino Freethinkers have been staunch supporters of the Reproductive Health Bill, and we remain dedicated to pushing for its passage. There has never been a more pressing time for you to join this cause than now. Tomorrow, November 21, we along with many other passionate organizations and individuals, will Occupy for RH. We will remain camped outside of Congress for as long as it takes to get our legislators to finally come to a long-delayed vote on this issue. Too much time has been wasted, and too many mothers’ lives have been lost since this fight began, and we are now pulling out all the stops.

Join us. Talking about the issue on social media is great, but it is not enough. If you truly believe that the RH Bill should be put to a vote, then camp out with us at Congress. It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be part of a vibrant community and help the country change for the better. As freethinkers, it is our responsibility to make our voices heard, to drown out all the falsehoods and bigotry that has surrounded this issue, and to finally let truth and life prevail.

Here’s the official statement of the Occupy for RH Movement:

It has been ten years since the first RH Bill, and after countless debates and delays we are no closer to a vote. The democratic process has stalled at the hands of time-wasting legislators and bullying bishops.

With mounting frustration we remind our public servants that for every day they delay the vote, Filipino families around the country lose their mothers. The time for delay is over. The time for a vote is now.

Starting tomorrow, November 21, RH Advocates from various organizations will occupy the park across the South Wing Gate of Congress, and launch a massive and sustained campaign to remind our Senators and Members of Congress of the urgency to vote on the Reproductive Health Bill before the year ends.

Pro-RH lawmakers, celebrities, artists, government officials, civil society and non-government groups, business, academe, youth, religious and non-religious sectors will show their support at this mass action,
and advocates will camp out in front of the South Wing Gate for as long as it takes for their voices to be heard.

We urge you to join us, tomorrow and onwards, and lend your voice to a movement that will save Filipino lives. Various activities will be held at the camp and at the South Wing Gate, such as a noise barrage, cultural and solidarity nights, pickets, creative and symbolic protests, actions that will make our legislators listen.

For ten years we have been ignored, the cries of the People drowned out by the powerful few. But no more. Together we will stand, together we will shout, and together we will Occupy for RH till our legislators vote for RH now.

For more details, visit the official site for Occupy for RH.

RSVP on Facebook

We’re having our meetup on a Sunday this week in Pasig City at the Starbucks in Anson’s. We’ll be discussing the new taxes that are looming for residents in Quezon City. The city will be using the tax hike to help squatters find new homes. Also, there’s a new archbishop in town and the Philippine Daily Inquirer is complaining that people don’t care. Do you care? A tragic accident left a 2 year old girl dying on the street as 19 passersby ignore her. Saving her could have meant paying for her full recovery. What would you have done?

• Quezon City socialized housing tax hike
• There’s a new Manila archbishop, do you care? Inquirer thinks you should!
• Would you help a dying stranger if it risked paying for their full recovery?

After the meetup we go for dinner and beer drinking at Congo Grill (see map). If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

• Newbies are welcome.
• Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
• There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
• Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
• You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.
• You don’t have to buy anything from Starbucks.

Location: Starbucks, Anson’s (Across The Podium), ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City (Google map)
Date: Saturday, October 8, 2011
Time: 2:30pm – 5:30pm

RSVP on Facebook

We’re back in Pasig at the Starbucks in Anson’s for this Saturday’s meetup. Technology visionary Steve Jobs died this week, while the protests at Wall Street in New York rage on. Teachers’ Day was also just this past week; tell us some stories about your favorite and not-so-favorite teachers and how they changed how you think.

Discussion Topics:
- Occupy Wall Street
- Blasphemy Day Contest
- Teachers’ Day: Stories About Your Teachers
- Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

After the meetup we go for dinner and beer drinking at Congo Grill (see map). If you’re not a meetup regular and can’t make it for the meetup but would like to go for the post meetup, please indicate on a post in the wall or comment so we can contact you.

Got questions about the meetup? Contact us at 0927 323 3532

* Newbies are welcome.
* Look for the FF sign (or the group of smart, sexy people).
* There is no required age, religion, philosophy, or IQ level.
* Discussions are informal yet intelligent (most of the time).
* You don’t have to talk; you can just sit in and listen.
* You don’t have to buy anything from Starbucks.

In celebration of Blasphemy Day 2011, the Filipino Freethinkers invite you to join

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?!?
a Jesus H. Christ cosplay contest

Dress up as Jesus doing something batshit blasphemous, and be in the running for awesome prizes!

Rules:
1) Participants must be fans of the official Filipino Freethinkers FB page

2) Submissions can be either a photograph or a video

3) Persons/animals/objects other than Jesus may be in the entry

4) Entries featuring Jesus in public are very highly recommended

5) PLANKING IS NOT ALLOWED. EVER.

6) If the submitter wishes to remain anonymous, they should ensure that they are unidentifiable in the entry

7) Post your entries on the COMMENTS SECTION OF THIS EVENT PAGE.

Entries must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM, OCTOBER 23, 2011, FRIDAY

9) Criteria are as follows: 40% creativity, 30% offensiveness, 20% execution, 10% online votes

10) Online votes (i.e. number of “likes” per entry) will be collected from SEPTEMBER 30 to OCTOBER 28, 2011

11) Three finalists will be announced on October 29, 2011 via the FF FB page

12) Finalists will be invited to come in costume on October 30, 2011 at the FF HALLOWEEN PAR-TAY

13) Finalists’ places (First, Second, Third) will be announced at the PAR-TAY

14) Prizes are as follows:
Third Place – 1 official FF t-shirt
Second Place – 1 official FF t-shirt + 1 Fully Bookd gift certificate worth Php500
First Place – 1 official FF t-shirt + 1 Fully Bookd gift certificate worth Php1000

Again, the crucial dates are as follows:
Deadline for Submissions: October 23
Voting Period: September 30 to October 28
Announcement of Top 3: October 29
Coronation Night: October 31

Visit our event page to post your entry!

DKT Reproductive Health and Filipinay, in partnership with Sex and Sensibilities, are hosting the ART-H Mandala Making Contest this Monday, October 3, from 11:30 AM to 1 PM at the Palma Hall Lobby in UP Diliman. This contest is open to all UP Diliman students.

Participants, in groups of 4 to 10 students, are tasked to make mandalas using pills and condoms in light of the contest’s theme, which is sexual health rights, women’s health, and informed choice. Their output will be displayed for one week in front of the UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council office for judging.

Participants stand the chance to win P15,000 for first place, P12,000 for second place, and P10,000 for third place.

This event is supported by the UP Reproductive Health and Gender Advocates Movement (RH AGENDA).

To celebrate 100 years of International Women’s Day, Ballet Philippines will stage Inamorata:

Ballet Philippines presents INAMORATA, which highlights the versatility and range of the country’s premier professional ballet and contemporary dance company. Celebrating the many Faces of Eve, it shows classical pieces like “The Dying Swan” and all new pieces by the country’s top choreographers like Alden Lugnasin and Denisa Reyes. Guest artists include sopranos Rachelle Gerodias and Camille Lopez Molina, while fashion designers Rajo Laurel, Ito Curata, Jojie Lloren and Lulu Tan Gan design the costumes.

I’m most interested in seeing “Everywoman,” an advocacy piece about the sexual repression of women, dramatized by a woman, a serpent, a pope, and several priests. Here’s what one reader had to say:

It’s choreographer Denisa Reyes’s take on women’s rights- choosing what is best for their bodies and ultimately a better life for themselves. It is also a reaction to all these outrageous banners posted outside churches and other anti-RH Bill institutions pronouncing that supporting the RH Bill is a sin against god. On the other hand, her piece proclaims that being against sex education and reproductive health measures/choices is a sin against women. I think the piece can send a very powerful message that comes from the ones directly and wholly affected by the presence or absence of the bill – the Filipino women.

From what I’ve heard about “Everywoman” and Inamorata it should be a great way to celebrate International Women’s Day. Do consider going, and tell your friends, too. In case you’re interested, here are the details:

Venue : CCP Main Theater
Time : 3:00 pm
Date : Sep 24, 25 2011
Time : 8:00 pm
Date : Sep 23, 24 2011

Tickets: P1000 | P800 | P700 | P500 | P400 (Evening Shows)
P600 | P500 | P400 | P300 | P200 (Matinee Shows)

Thanks for the tip, Russ and Adrienne.

Hans Rosling, the statistician and public speaker behind Gapminder foundation will be holding a public lecture in UP Diliman at the School of Economics Auditorium, this Friday, September 16. Hans Rosling’s passion has been to make data, the facts that make up our human world, transparent to the layperson. Hans Rosling’s Gapminder foundation has created beautiful data visualization tools to bring out the stories hidden in large datasets. He will be talking about Population and Economic Growth, a topic which is very relevant to the Reproductive Health bill issue facing the country.

When: Friday, September 16, 8:30 AM
Where: UP Diliman, School of Economics Auditorium

Hans Rosling is a riveting public speaker, I highly recommend attending this talk. Here is one of Hans Rosling’s TED talks on population growth.

With the president throwing his support behind the reproductive health bill, it is more important than ever to show our support for the RH bill. Learn more about it, spread the word and show your fellow citizens that you think the reproductive health bill matters. Next week, there will be two events held at UP Diliman. On Tuesday, take part in a fun run organized by the APO sorority to show your support for the RH bill. On Thursday. the authors of the Senate RH bill will hold a forum on the bill. If you can come to both, please do!

“Fast Track The RH Bill Now!” Fun Run

When: 13 September · 09:00am – 11:00am
Where: UP Diliman, Sunken Garden Grandstand
RSVP on Facebook

The Alpha Phi Omega (APO) International Collegiate Service Sorority is making a stand for the RH bill! To raise awareness and declare their support, the UP APO Sorority is holding, “Fast Track the RH Bill Now”! Next Tuesday, September 13, they will be holding a short program in front of the UP Sunken Garden grandstand followed by a fun run around the UP Academic Oval.

Run for RH! Fast track the RH bill now!

RH as HR: A Public Forum on Senate Bill 2865

When: 15 September · 09:30am – 12:30pm
Where: UP Diliman, Malcolm Hall
RSVP on Facebook

The UP Institute of Human Rights and along with other organisations are holding a public forum on the senate version of the reproductive health bill. The authors of the senate RH bill, Senator Miram Defensor-Santiago and Pia Cayetano will be speaking about it. Dr. Raul Pangalangan and Esperanza Cabral will also be at the forum.

Attend the forum and get informed about the bill with perspectives from the legislators, law experts and healthcare professionals. Ask questions, speak up, spread the word!

Seats are limited on a first come first serve basis. RSVP at 926-6230/411-3151 (Mina or Kiko)

Sen. Vicente Sotto’s interpellation of the RH Bill at the Senate has deteriorated into a witch-hunt of organizations supporting the bill that, in his opinion, have an agenda to legalize or promote abortion in the Philippines. The organizations that he has named so far are the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP), Likhaan Center for Women’s Health (Likhaan), the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), and the Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (DSWP). More could follow as the senator has asked for a list of all organizations that have expressed support for the bill.

Instead of arguing about the content of the RH Bill, Sen. Sotto has shifted to attacking advocates.

This crude antic is an implied admission of weakness in conducting a reasoned and respectful debate with fellow senators who are, in the final analysis, the authors and sponsors of the measure. Civil society organizations (CSOs) are formally invited to public hearings on proposed laws and asked to present and argue their position. This engagement of CSOs is a key feature of democracy, of governance through dialogue. Unfairly using the immense powers of the Senate to attack CSOs for their different points of view is the act of a bully and violates the tenet of responsive governance.

Some RH Bill advocates—like the organizations maligned by Sen. Sotto—are truly concerned about the harm to women and their families of unsafe abortion. Because of our work in very poor urban and rural communities, we know firsthand of women who have suffered severe complications—hemorrhage, infection and perforated bowels—some of whom survived, while others died. We know of women survivors who were subjected to verbal abuse, maltreatment, and neglect in hospitals by the medical people who were supposed to help them. We know too that the reasons that push women to have an abortion are desperate, that the decision to have an abortion is never easy, and that if women could prevent abortion, they would.

Beyond the RH Bill, we stand for openly and soberly discussing the impact of abortion in the Philippines and finding humane and workable solutions. Last time we heard it, discussing abortion is legal in this country. A century of criminalizing abortion has not stopped its widespread use, but only made it dangerous.

The RH Bill has at least three features that can substantially reduce abortions without even changing the law. Family planning—whether through natural or artificial methods—can address the root of abortion, unintended pregnancy, by enabling women and couples to plan the timing, spacing and number of pregnancies. Post-abortion care, including medication, surgery and counseling, can save women’s lives, preserve their health, and help them to use family planning that will prevent repeat abortions. School-based sexuality and RH education can address peer pressure and sexual coercion and violence, delay sexual experimentation, and promote responsible behavior so that unintended pregnancies are reduced.

Those who obstruct family planning while exulting in the Philippines’ extreme anti-abortion law—which has no exception even when a woman’s life is in danger—are morally responsible for the vicious cycle of unintended pregnancy and abortion that continues to kill and maim masses of women. If government-supported measures to reduce abortion or to treat and counsel women with post-abortion complications are denied, where else could women go? What else could women do?

Sen. Sotto, if he has a modicum of sympathy for women, should find solutions to the problem of abortion instead of maligning organizations that support RH. If he is against RH, what is he for?

Anyone concerned about the health of women and the families that they care for will find it unconscionable to object to the RH Bill. If Sen. Sotto is worried that the bill will legalize abortion, then he needs to simply study the text and accept or reject it based on what he actually reads, not on what he reads of advocates’ intentions.

Released 7 September 2011 by:

Roberto Ador
Executive Director,
Family Planning Organization of the Philippines

Junice D. Melgar
Executive Director,
Likhaan Center for Women’s Health

Sylvia Estrada Claudio
Chairperson,
Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights

Elizabeth Angsioco
Chairperson,
Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines

For further information, contact: Joy Salgado • Likhaan Center for Women’s Health • 926-6230 • 411-3151

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Image from trialx.com

***UPDATE***
Because of the recent changes of schedule, the RH debates in Senate might no longer push through today, and because of this, the Purple Ribbon candle lighting ceremony has been moved to 4pm – 5pm. The organizers at Purple Ribbon for RH apologize for this development, and we hope that some can still make it earlier despite the very short notice. Thank you for your support!

September 7, 2011
Senate Interpellation on the RH Bill: 3 PM, Senate Plenary Hall
National Day of the Purple Ribbon Ceremony: 6 PM, Senate Grounds
Wear purple and bring purple ribbons
Facebook RSVP

It’s clear: from SWS survey results to the President’s own LEDAC endorsement, the Philippine nation is clamoring for the decade long debate on the RH Bill to finally conclude. It is only the handful of anti-RH representatives in both our houses of Congress that still attempt to delay voting on the bill. This is due to the orders of their handlers from the CBCP, and done at the cost of women’s lives and health.

When Rep. Roilo Golez can freely quote medical evidence from Wikipedia as authoritative fact, and Senator Sotto can callously dismiss mothers’ deaths, literally laughing at the faces of the poor women who suffer due to the lack of this bill, it is up to each and every concerned citizen to go directly to them and show that our country is still a democracy.

We would like to ask any and all concerned Freethinkers to join fellow members of the Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN) for the National Day of the Purple Ribbon on Sept. 7, 6 PM at the Senate Grounds (right outside the main gate of the Senate Compound, which is also the GSIS Building in Pasay City). There is a simple ceremony to commemorate those who have died as a result of the bill’s being delayed. This will be the first of a series of monthly events until the end of this year’s legislative season.

Also, anyone interested in attending the Senate interpellation between Miriam Santiago (the bill’s cosponsor) and Senators Sotto, Enrile, etc. may come to the Senate Plenary Hall in the same building earlier, at 3 PM. It is open to the public, as long as one is ‘decently dressed’ and can present a valid photo ID. It is recommended that you come in by 230 PM to secure seats.

***

Reproductive Health (RH) supporters all over the country are calling for a series of nationally coordinated mass actions to ask Congress to finally put the RH bill into vote. Starting September 7, the RH Consortium, together with its allies and partners in the different regions, will organize a monthly “Day of the Purple Ribbon for RH” with various activities ranging from motorcades, candle and torch parades, purple ribbon tying and stickering, rallies and cultural presentations.

Hundreds of RH supporters from grassroots organizations, local government units, arts and entertainment industry, interfaith groups, academe, business and national government agencies are expected to join the mass actions. Likewise, the organizers are calling the public to participate in these activities and to wear purple clothes, tie purple ribbons in their homes and cars and to light a candle at exactly 6PM during that day.

The major staging areas for the September 7 purple ribbon events are the cities of Baguio, Iloilo, Davao and at the Senate grounds in Pasay City. The Baguio Day of the Purple Ribbon will feature street performances, an RH forum, a candle parade at 5PM and a concert at the UP Baguio starting at 7PM. In Iloilo City, the whole day event will start with the early morning tying of purple ribbons in major thoroughfares, memorial march and cultural program in the afternoon at the Jaro Plaza.

In Davao City, a motorcade in the morning will launch the purple ribbon campaign, followed by a photo exhibit and a rally at the people’s park. In Pasay City, women’s groups will hold a cultural rally at the Senate grounds to draw attention to the daily deaths of mothers. The rally will coincide with the plenary debate on the RH bill in the Senate. A candle lighting ceremony at exactly 6PM will be the common feature for all the activities on September 7 to remember women who died needlessly due to pregnancy and childbirth complications.

The other dates and venues for the National Day of the Purple Ribbon for RH are on October 7 in Pampanga, Legaspi, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga and on November 15 in Tugegarao, Tacloban and Quezon City.

For interviews and clarifications, please contact Ms. Vigie Benosa-Llorin, PLCPD Media Advocacy Officer, Mobile No. 0918-2936786.

PRESS RELEASE: Win Php25,000 in Mulat Pinoy’s “We Are RH” video contest
Amateur filmmakers are invited to submit short films on reproductive health.

Do you wish your videos were on TV instead of YouTube? Looking for extra cash to buy that nice phone? Hoping for your own cool video camera? Then this is what you’ve been waiting for.

Join “We are Right Here. We are RH.”! This amateur video contest aims to bring into the limelight young people’s take on responsible parenthood, reproductive health, and population and development.

Finalists’ videos entries will be featured in a TV special to be aired on one of the most prestigious networks in the country, the ABS-CBN News Channel. The producers and directors of the winning video clips will also be interviewed. Selected entries shall also be aired on the Knowledge Channel program, Peliculab.

Aside from fame and nationwide reach, winners shall also get the following cash prizes: Php 25,000 for the First Prize, Php 15,000 for the Second Prize and P10,000 for the Third Prize. They will also receive trophies, and video cameras from Creative Zen.

A special citation award shall be given by the United Nations Population Fund to one entry that best embodies their theme for 2011, “The World at 7 Billion.” The winner of this special award will receive P15,000, a video camera and a trophy. UNFPA will also use the selected video entry in their 7 Billion information campaign.

So, if you are 25 years old or younger, muster your creative energies and shoot the video that reflects your views. It can be about anything, not just the RH Bill: the use of condoms, family planning, sex education, overpopulation, virginity, STDs, AIDS. Be it a public service announcement or a commercial, a mini-documentary, animation or a dramatic scene, you have the freedom to speak your mind the best way you know how.

Join the discussion. Let your voice be heard. And let Mulat Pinoy be the channel for your shout-out to the world. Join “We are Right Here. We are RH.”

Contact:
Regina Layug-Rosero
Project Coordinator, Mulat Pinoy
Email: HYPERLINK “mailto:regina@mulatpinoy.ph” regina@mulatpinoy.ph, HYPERLINK “mailto:wearerh@mulatpinoy.ph” wearerh@mulatpinoy.ph
Web: HYPERLINK “http://www.mulatpinoy.ph/wearerh” http://www.mulatpinoy.ph/wearerh
Telephone: (+632) 4330456

Tomorrow, August 24, is the final day you and your friends can vote for us at the Globe T@tt Awards!

The past two weeks, it’s been a close call for both “The One” and “The Advocate” categories, and we need that one, final push to cinch our spot at the top of the polls.

If you have yet to vote, please go to the T@tt Awards site and vote for us under both “The One” and “The Advocate” categories. We need serious help for both, and all it takes is a few measly mouse clicks. If your friends have yet to vote, physically carry them to a computer and tell them to vote. Worst case scenario, use a pulley.

Winning the awards would be a tremendous thing not only for the members of our organization, but for the state of reason, science, and secularism in the Philippines. We have so many things in store for you all in the near future, and bagging the top prizes will most definitely ensure that our plans come to fruition.

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Image from wikiliality.wikia.com