InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
Leaders of the Catholic Church in the Philippines have started campaigning against politicians supportive of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, framing the proposed law and upcoming elections in 2013 as a test of Philippine 'Catholicity'.
The church's official news site, CBCPNews.com, says "efforts to 'educate' Catholic voters on family and life issues (have) kicked off in some dioceses ahead of the 2013 elections."
The report quotes Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes as saying over church-run Radio Veritas: "I already told my priests about it. This is an important issue and this is a very good test whether the Philippines is a Catholic country or not."
Rep. Edcel Lagman, a staunch leader of the RH campaign, on Monday dismissed the notion of a "Catholic vote", citing surveys suggesting that most Filipinos would want greater access to reproductive health information, products, and services.
On CBCPNews, however, Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles warned that the Catholic vote is still very much real.
"We must use the Catholic vote and show them what the real Catholic is. There are fake Catholics here, they are the ones ruling in our country," Arguelles said. "We can only stop ethnic cleansing, contraceptive mentality, immorality, increasing number of broken families, and promiscuity if we vote for candidates who love life."
Bastes backed up Arguelles' call for a Catholic vote, suggesting that the coming elections would be a referendum as much on RH as on the influence and principles of Catholicism in the country. "This is a very important issue. Once we have the RH bill, the Catholicity of the Philippines will be gone," he said.