CBCP urges Aquino to drop sex ed program, RH bill

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged President Benigno Aquino III to forego the government’s sex education program and the reproductive health (RH) bill, saying a “contraceptive-oriented" population control program is tantamount to corruption.

"Real corruption is moral and spiritual corruption. The rejection or disregard of morality and religious belief is at the core of corruption. Moral and spiritual corruption breeds its kind in other spheres of life - political, social, and economic," the CBCP said in a pastoral exhortation signed by its president, Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar.

Also, the CBCP reminded the President that the constitutional protection of the unborn child is a legacy of his late mother, former President Corazon Aquino.

“In spite of all the foreseeable opposition of politicians and powerful lobby groups, we pray that President Aquino’s moral legacy could be finally and fully realized during the term of her son, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III," the CBCP said in its exhortation.

Catholic bishops reiterated their opposition to the government’s sex education program as well as the RH bill, for allegedly promoting artificial contraception.

“To plan our families is, indeed, a Christian value and responsibility. This is why we support the couple’s desire for the planning and proper spacing of their children through natural family planning programs in our dioceses. A contraceptive-oriented population control program is not the moral way," the CBCP said.

The CBCP chided government for thinking population control is necessary to reduce poverty.

The bishops said the causes of poverty are complex— among which are flawed development philosophies, wrong government priorities, corruption, inequitable wealth distribution, limited access to economic resources, poor delivery of social services, unjust economic policies, and political imbalance.

“It is social injustice that is at the root of poverty. And social injustice is simply another name for moral and spiritual corruption, the jettisoning of moral and spiritual values from private and public life," it said.

Moral corruption

The CBCP reminded Aquino that he won the presidential campaign using the campaign slogan “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap (Without corruption, there will be no poverty)."

The CBCP said “to get rid of corruption at all levels of life we as a people must acknowledge our origin from the creative power of God and must be true to our identity as created unto God’s image and likeness."

Sex Education

The CBCP claimed that while sex education concepts have been in place since the 1970s, the proposed sex education program “further highlights and fortifies the concept that contraceptives provide ‘safe and satisfying sex.’"

They also noted that in the United States, where sex education programs are very liberal and the promotion of contraceptives and condoms is very aggressive, the teen birth rate remains at a high 93 per 1000.

“We reiterate that the Church is not against sex education. But for reasons of morality and religious faith, we strongly object to the proposed sex education program. The program is devoid of any substantive moral and religious value formation," it said.

The bishops said human sexuality is a sacred gift from God and destined for a divine purpose. “Sex education has to impart a sense of the sacredness of the gift of human sexuality. For sex education to be proper, conscience formation, moral and spiritual guidance must be integrated with the whole process," they said.

The CBCP said parents possess the fundamental and natural right to nurture the moral values of their children and this “a right acknowledged in the Constitution, a right which government may not take away and arrogate unto itself."

RH bill

The CBCP also criticized House Bill (HB) 96, which is essentially the same RH bill known as HB 5043 in the previous Congress.

“With the utmost concern and urgency we express our strong objection to the fundamental aspects of House Bill 96. The basis of our moral objection is once again the central religious truth of the divine origin and divine image of the human person, of one’s being and life," the CBCP said.

“It promotes contraceptive barriers, techniques, supplies, and services that control fertility as if it were a disease. Science has proven that some contraceptives render the mother’s womb inhospitable, thereby causing abortion," the CBCP said.

The CBCP said the Constitution that protects “the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception." — VVP, GMANews.TV

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/196990/cbcp-urges-aquino-to-drop-sex-ed-program-rh-bill 

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