Defending Life in the Philippines

 
After effectively fighting for Faith and family for decades against the Culture
of Death, the Church and the people of the Philippines find themselves in a
truly desperate situation.  For the first time, there is a distinct possibility that
this most Catholic of nations might embrace abortion.
 
For more than a decade, the death peddlers have pushed for the so-called
"Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill)," which provides for the universal
distribution of all methods of birth control, including abortifacient pills,
injections, and IUDs.  The promoters of the RH Bill allege that it will prevent
abortions through the widespread promotion of contraception, but its
sponsors are well aware that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that
"... reproductive health includes contraception and family planning and
access to legal, safe abortion."
 
The RH Bill provides for heavy fines and imprisonment for Catholic and
other hospital personnel who refuse to distribute contraception or perform
sterilizations.  Additionally, anyone who distributes "malicious
disinformation" about the RH Bill itself can be jailed.  Naturally, the bill's
sponsors refuse to define this term, but we can be certain that they
consider all opposition to the RH Bill to be "malicious."  The RH Bill also
provides for mandatory comprehensive sex education beginning in fifth
grade, which its proponents know is the best way to destroy the innocence
of the children and get them "hooked" on contraception.
 
In other words, the RH Bill is a complete package designed to integrate the
anti-life mentality into the fabric of the nation.  It is plainly a "lethal injection"
to the soul of the Philippines, as the European experience has shown us.
 
Benigno Aquino III ("Noy-Noy") is the first Filipino President to say that he
supports the RH Bill.  Like John F. Kennedy, he says that he will keep his
"Catholic" faith separate from his public life, and that the Church will play
no role in shaping his decisions.  Naturally, the population controllers and
other anti-lifers are ecstatic over this, and anticipate legalized abortion in
the Philippines in less than three years.
 
The purpose of my tenth mission to the Philippines was to speak at Human
Life International's 17th Asia-Pacific Congress, and to help our Regional
Coordinator, Ligaya Acosta, assist the Church hierarchy and large Catholic
lay groups in organizing and synchronizing their efforts.
 
The pre-Congress training sessions kicked off with an opening Mass
celebrated by a dozen priests.  We had pro-life representatives from Laos,
India, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Taiwan,
Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Uzbekistan and, of course, the Philippines. 
The three-day pre-Congress was designed to train pro-life leaders from
each of the countries in the basics of the anti-life assaults, and to awaken
and inform them as to the many directions they may come from.  We also
hosted a meeting of more than 150 high-level pro-life leaders, including
bishops, senators, congressmen and judges, as well as large numbers of
businessmen, doctors and lawyers.
 
The worst fear of the population controllers is a vocal Church working
hand-in-hand with large and activist lay groups.  The head of the Knights of
Columbus of the Philippines was at the meeting, and he said that the
combined strength of 300,000 fourth-degree Knights will be marshalled
against the RH bill.  They will be joined by the powerful Couples for Christ
group, El Shaddai, and the Focolare, among others.  Between them, these
groups represent millions of Filipinos.
 
The 17th Asia-Pacific Congress officially began on November 6.  Among the
many bishops staying through the entire conference were Ricardo Cardinal
Vidal, recently retired from the post of Archbishop of Cebu City; Archbishop
Jose S. Palma, his successor; Guadencio Cardinal Rosales, Archbishop of
Manila; Archbishop Tomash Peta, President of the Catholic Bishops
Conference of Kazakhstan; Archbishop Francesco Panfilo, President of the
Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon
Islands; Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, Director of the Episcopal
Commission on Family and Life; and Bishop Nerio P. Odchimar, President
of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
 
The two and a half days of talks stretched from early Saturday to noon on
Monday.  We had eleven different talks, and the open forum discussions
were extensive.  As usual, the most important work happened behind the
scenes with meetings and networking.
 
One of our speakers was Congressman Roilo Golez, the author of House
Bill 13, which would protect all human life from fertilization.  He presented
me with a thick pile of papers proving statistically that the main causes of
high maternal mortality in the provinces of the Philippines is not the lack of
"safe" abortion, but a lack of attended childbirth.  But the population
controllers do not care about this; all they want is fewer Filipinos.
 
Cardinal Rosales encouraged all of us during his homily at the closing
Mass of the Congress, emphasizing that prayer and action are both needed
in the world today.  We also outlined our plans for the next Congress, which
will be held in Kazakhstan in September of 2011.
 
This was definitely the most productive trip we have had to the Philippines. 
More than 500 people attended the Congress, and there were more high-
ranking Church officials there than at any other HLI conference we have
ever held.  We also helped achieve more strategic goals than at any other
conference, the most important being the organization of the pro-life
leaders of the entire nation to fight the Reproductive Health Bill.
 
To lose the Philippines to the culture of death would not only be a
devastating blow to the morale of pro-lifers all over the world, it would open
the floodgates to funds pouring in to devastate Filipino families.  So we are
appealing to all of our friends to support our efforts in the Philippines with
generous donations.  Please also pray fervently for the future of
thePhilippines.  If the RH Bill passes, there will be abortion mills all over the
country within three years, and the soul of this most Catholic nation will
quickly wither and die.  The West will have occupied the Philippines yet
again, but this time the occupation would be in the form of anti-life
resources and structures that would destroy what is so beautiful and unique
about this great country: its faithful and joyful families, and indeed, its
future.
 
Join us - don't let it happen!
 
Sincerely,
 
Brian Clowes, PhD
Director of Research and Training
Human Life International
 
Dear friends,
 
I would like to share with you a report from Dr. Brian Clowes, HLI's Director of Research and Training,
detailing a recent mission trip to the Philippines. As the largest Catholic nation in Asia, the Philippines
has managed to avoid much of the decay of the rest of Asia, but this fact also makes it the bulls-eye for
pro-abortion NGOs and politicians from the West. The fight for life in this pro-life, pro-family nation is
intense, and we are called to pray for and with our Filipino brothers and sisters.

 
Sincerely yours in Christ, 

Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carámbula

Interim President, Human Life International