S i g n i s I n d i a

MANILA, July 15, 2010— After meeting with Education Secretary Armin Luistro, Catholic bishops said might soon dialogue with Health Secretary Enrique Ona to discuss the issue on contraceptives.

San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto said the church is more than willing to discuss with the government its concerns on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

“If he is open to such meeting we will honor it. But so far there is no invitation yet,” said Aniceto, chairman of the Commission on Family and Life of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

Last Sunday, members of the CBCP expressed to Luistro their concerns about the conduct of sex education in public schools.

The dialogue, held in time for the bishops’ plenary assembly, was initiated in order to know the “sentiments” of the church on the matter particularly on the sex education modules.

Although there is no scheduled meeting yet with Ona, Archbishop Aniceto is hoping that the new DOH chief will really promote the health of the people and not …

“It is called Department of Health (DOH) because it should promote exactly that the health of the people,” he said.

The Church is strongly against the RH bill which seeks to control the country’s growing population through the use of contraceptives in family planning.

To recall Ona’s predecessor Esperanza Cabral earned the ire of the Church when she aggressively campaigned for the use of condoms and pills to avoid unwanted pregnancies and the spread of the sexually-related diseases. (CBCPNews)