It doesn't bother him since it's not him or his children who are sacrificing their life to work abroad to put food on the table. He also doesn't bother him that as a lawmaker, made it difficult for investors to set up business so people can find work here instead abroad and away from their families.


MANILA, Philippines – There’s no convincing Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

Enrile says whether his amendments to the Reproductive Health (RH) bill are accepted or not, he will vote against the controversial measure.

The Senate President has yet to introduce 11 out of his 17 “substantial amendments” to the bill. Yet the staunch RH critic said it does not matter whether the bill is revised.

“I’m not a hypocrite. I speak out according to my best assessment for what is good for the country. My vote is against the RH bill even if my proposals are accepted, not because of religion, morality but because of my long-term assessment of what this bill will do to the country,” Enrile said at the Kapihan sa Senado press forum on Thursday, November 29.

Asked why he introduces amendments in the first place, Enrile said he wanted to show that he is not delaying the passage of the bill but refining the measure.

“My purpose in proposing some of my amendments is to show the people that this bill is not really all for the health of the women. It is [for] population and control management. I feel that. Hindi ba, every time I touch on population, tumatalon si Sen Pia Cayetano, pumipiyok, she screams sometimes.” (Isn’t it that every time I touch on population, Sen Pia Cayetan’s voice breaks?)

Enrile was referring to heated debates with the bill’s sponsor, Sen Pia Cayetano.

When he spoke about the economy in the earlier part of the press briefing, Enrile said, “Ang pinakamalaking export natin is OFW (overseas Filipino workers). Export iyan eh, kaya ako kontra ako sa RH dahil diyan. Ang magpapalago ng bansa natin ay iyong excess population natin na sinanay natin na tumatanggap ng mga trabaho abroad that others don’t want to handle. We have to accept that. Korea started that way.”

(Our biggest export is OFWs. That is export. That’s why I’m against RH. What will improve our economy is the excess population that is used to accepting jobs that others don’t want to handle.)