The RH Bill must be passed as it provides the education and means for poor couples to manage their family

sizes. But let us discuss the arguments against it. 1. It promotes abortion. Sec 3M of the bill specifically states that abortion is still a crime. 2. It is anti-life. It is actually pro-life as it gives the children of poor couples a better quality of life. Compare the life of 8 poor uneducated persons versus 2 educated persons. 3. The bill is a source of corruption. All bills need a budget to be able to enforce and implement it. All bills can be a source of corruption but we cannot reject a bill based on this alone or else no bill would ever be implemented as all bills have an appropriations component. 4. The Philippines does not have a population problem/Overpopulation is not a problem. A well educated and skilled population is an asset to any country. Unfortunately, many poor couples have no means or inclination to educate their children. An uneducated populace is a liability and will stress social services and police services. The RH bill tries to solve this by helping poor couples manage their family sizes so that they can provide the education and time for their children. 5. RH Bill is not necessary to solve poverty/RH Bill cannot solve poverty. No single bill can solve poverty in the Philippines. But the RH bill is one step toward a more manageable future for our poor couples. If these couples are more educated about optimal family sizes and family planning methods, then they will be able to give a better life for their children. More educated/disciplined children means less government money will be needed for the poor people and less government money will be spent on crime prevention. 6. RH bill violates the rights of Catholics. RH bill actually protects people from forcible enforcement of artificial birth control methods and it protects health workers with religious objections. So any Catholic can still follow the Church teachings even with this law in place. 7. We must tackle corruption first. Partly true, because there is no one solution to eradicate poverty. The RH bill tries to solve one aspect of poverty which is that many poor Filipinos due to lack of education and lack of access to family planning methods keep having more children which they cannot care for. We, Filipinos can tackle corruption in our small ways. We must also reduce our reliance on our government by being good in school and by being good parents to our children and by being good workers/managers/bosses. Government must also keep strengthening the implementation of our current anti-corruption laws. 8. RH bill is against the law of God. Unfortunately, not all agree on this. If this was a universal belief then the bill would be rejected immediately. My personal belief is none of the provisions of the bill is immoral by itself. Many Filipinos agree with me and many Filipinos do not. What I can say for the Filipinos who do not, is that allow this bill into law but continue to live your own lives as to what your beliefs allow and let others live their life as to what their beliefs allow. 9. Money for RH Bill can be used for education instead. I believe that supporting artificial/natural family planning is much more economically feasible than educating 5 or more poor children from preschool to college. The government already provides free education up to 4th year high school but a high school diploma is not enough to get out of poverty. Even with free education, many of these parents will not send them to school as they need these children to work, and many of them will not be able to send them all to college. Also, with 4 or more children not spaced properly, the parental attention and

discipline they receive will be much less leading to truantism and discipline problems, making them unproductive adults in the future.

Three Manila teachers hurt after a road accident in city by Harley Palangchao

Three of the 20 teachers who were injured in a vehicular accident at the city circumferential road near Marcos Highway morning of May 26 were confined but are now in stable condition, police reported Friday. Report from the Cordillera police command revealed that the teachers were aboard an Isuzu jeepney with license plate ACM 581 when the accident happened while approaching near Gate 1 of Santa Lucia golf course in Tuba, Benguet. The teachers, who are mostly from south of Manila, were supposed to visit the BenCab museum. Police reported the vehicle came from Teachers Camp as the victims were attending a five-day seminar for Special Programs in the Arts. Traffic investigators reported loose brakes caused the accident. Those who were confined at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center were identified as Carmelita Dumagan, 50; Concepcion Bagotchay, 58 and Gladys Dela Cuesta, 44. Those who were discharged after treatment were Gregoria Labrado, 49; Ronnie Reteraccion, 44; Luis Jimenez, 52; Juanita T. Paje, 43 ; Salvador Bataoco, 33; Juanita Evangelista, 55; Felicitas Dela Cruz, 61; Diana Basio, 38 and Anabelle Cabangan, 38. The accident happened just as concerned agencies urged all motorists to take precautionary measures, especially during inclement weather. The other week, the Department of Health reported that some 105 persons were killed and more than 360 others were injured due to vehicular accidents in the Cordilleras from February 2010 up to April this year. This year alone, DOH reported more or less 22 vehicular accidents were recorded in various parts of the region resulting to 18 deaths and injury of 110 others. Last year, DOH recorded 87 deaths and 253 injury cases also due to vehicular accidents. The most tragic road accident to happen in the region last year involved an Eso-Nice Bus, which plunged into a deep ravine in Sablan, Benguet on August 27 resulting to more than 40 deaths.

Mechanical defect and human error are the two primary causes of accidents. Other causes include inclement weather and poor conditions of roads, especially in the far-flung areas.