A group of Filipino Catholics calling themselves a part of the "silent majority," broke their silence and came out in support of pending legislation on reproductive health. Launching the "RH Speak Out!" movement, the group took a stand that proclaims reproductive rights and health as consistent with Catholic social teaching.
Leading the pack by going through a history of Philippine church and state relations, Carlos Celdran (also known as the Pied Piper of Manila), opened the launch with one of his famous walking tours around Intramuros. Lisa Macuja Elizalde, the Philippines' famous Russian-trained Prima Ballerina, also joined the group as a volunteer.
Helen Orande clarified that they were not speaking out in defiance of the Catholic Church hierarchy, but their group only wants to show that there is another side to the story -- that not all Filipino Catholics are against the use of contraceptives for family planning and underscored the need for information. The group managed to get a spot on the evening news, but only one daily mentioned the group's effort.
Unfortunately, the local media is more used to featuring the reproductive health issue as a contest between supporters of the bill in Congress and the outspoken members of the Catholic hierarchy. Every now and then women's groups and NGOs supporting the bill get media coverage for an event or a rally just as church backed groups against the bill do. Occasionally, a token woman from the slums (pregnant and with her other children in tow) is interviewed but for the most part, the media sticks to its formula.
Very few in media seem to be able to pick up that the "conflict" of views over family planning and reproductive rights is so much more than the population control pundits versus Catholic Church; or pro-life and pro-choice controversy. Roman Catholics speaking out in support of reproductive health do not only break the mold, they challenge the very stereotypes and familiar conflicts the local media has come to rely on for a "sensational" angle.
In fact, even from within its broad base of supporters, not all reproductive health bill advocates necessarily agree when it comes to positions on population management. In the 10th Congress, many of the women's rights advocates now supporting RH legislation came out in opposition to previous versions of the population management bill. It even took a while before the RH bill's current supporters in Congress, came around to a "rights-based framework," and eventually agreed to drop the provision dictating the "ideal family size." Arguably, this is precisely the sort of information that can facilitate an intelligent discussion on the issue. It seems media are not interested in going beyond covering the purported "clash" of views. Indeed these are not the stuff of news that "sells" or the kind that jacks up the ratings.
This is also why, despite the amount of media coverage the issue of reproductive health has managed to garner (year in and year out), and not a lot seems to come out of it. Whether the bill actually makes it out of Congress or not, we are told that a number of things are already quite certain: some politicians originally supporting the bill will eventually back out, buckling to pressure from the Catholic hierarchy. Thus we are told by members of media itself. The cycle continues and in the end, the church's position will prevail. But when public opinion is not really considered important (by media and politicians), the public is reduced to mere spectatorship and journalism, to entertainment.
