Rosa Rosal: A Life Dedicated to Charity Has Never a Dull Moment

Rosa Rosal is an award-winning Filipino actress who is known for her years of voluntary service with the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC). She was born Florence Danon in 1931 in Manila and started her film career in 1946, which continued throughout the 1950s, and was named FAMAS Best Actress in 1955 for “Sonny Boy”. Among the notable films she starred in were Lamberto Avellana’s “Anak Dalita” (1956), Tony Santos’s “Badjao” (1956), and Manuel Silos’s “Biyaya ng Lupa” (1959). She had a brief marriage in 1957 and had a child, Toni Rose Gayda, who later worked on television.[1]

            Rosal became the first woman volunteer of the Philippine Red Cross at the height of her popularity and conducted her first official blood donation in 1950. Ordinary people then had to be persuaded into giving blood because of the misconception on the harmful effects of bloodletting.[2] She was later elected to the body’s Board of Governors in 1965 and has continuously promoted blood donation in the Philippines. Rosal helped start bloodletting programs inside campuses and military camps and lobbied for support in upgrading Red Cross facilities from political leaders and foreign embassies. She also initiated a Women’s Crisis Center within the PNRC, which assisted unwed and needy pregnant mothers and found homes for unwanted children. Rosal also worked out a college scholarship fund for poor but deserving students from pork barrel fund donations of members of Congress. The “Damayan” and “Kapwa Ko  Mahal Ko” public-service television programs, which she has hosted, has solicited financial and medical aid for needy patients.[3] Rosal has faced many challenges in the course of her work in the Red Cross, which include the acquisition of a refrigerated centrifuge through her appeal to then President Ferdinand Marcos and her asking for blood via the airwaves and delivery of emergency supplies to hospitals during the 1989 coup d’etat.[4]

            According to Rosal, she leads a simple but meaningful life and very seldom attends social functions. She spends her weekdays on her various charity works and projects, while Saturdays are get-togethers with old friends and Sundays are exclusively for the family. She considers being asleep by 10 in the evening a luxury. Rosal is happy that more people are aware more than ever before of the activities of the Red Cross, but because of the ever increasing population, needs have also risen, and the task of raising funds has become extremely challenging. However, she makes it a point to be always well-dressed and fully made up when she goes about her work because people somehow expect her to have the bearing of a movie star at all times. When Rosal visits foreign cities, she makes it a must to locate and drop by a Red Cross office for the sharing of experiences and learning about the latest equipment in the field.[5]

            Rosa Rosal was named the Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service in 1999 for her lifetime of dedicated voluntary service that has inspired her countrymen to put the needs of others ahead of their own. The Order of the Golden Heart with the rank of Grand Cross for a lifetime of public service work was also bestowed on her by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2006. The Ading Fernando Lifetime Achievement Award was likwise given to Rosal at the 22^nd PMPC Star Awards For TV in November 2008.[6]

            Philippine Red Cross officials acknowledged and celebrated the 60th anniversary of the volunteer Red Cross work of veteran actress-social worker Rosa Rosal in July 2010.  She and other volunteers have been recognized as the moving force behind charitable institutions, churches and non-government organizations because of their selfless service to those in need.[7]

            Rosa Rosal is one of those remarkable human beings who see the ultimate value of a life that is other-oriented. While the world recognizes the value of individuals who strive for self-development because their examples inspire people, it also grateful for those who basically strive for the betterment of others, because through them, many lives have been set right and saved.

---

[1] “Rosa Rosal”, Wikipedia, 17 May 2011, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Rosal>

[accessed 14 June 2011]

[2] Sol Jose Vanzi, “Rosa Rosal Recalls Her Magical Visit to Hollywood”, Philippine Headline News Online,

31 July 2002, <http://www.newsflash.org/2002/07/sb/sb002315.htm>  [accessed 14 June 2011]

[3] “Rosa Rosal”

[4] “Actress Rosa Rosal Celebrates 60^th Anniversary as Red Cross Volunteer on July 4”, Bayanihan,

  2 July 2010, <http://bayanihan.org/2010/07/02/actress-rosa-rosal-celebrates-60th-anniversary-as-red-cross-volunteer-on-july-4/>  [accessed 24 June 2011]

[5] Sol Jose Vanzi

[6] “Rosa Rosal”

[7] “Actress Rosa Rosal…”

On Overpopulation

Population Explosion is the term we give to a condition of having more people in a certain country or the whole world for that matter  that can live in   comfort, happiness and health and still leave the same a fit place for future generation. When the growth of human population of a small developing country reaches to about a hundred million people, it would surely become a significant burden to human well being.  It affects the populace through its impact on the environment and on the economy. . I believe that the greatest threat to the future comes from overpopulation.

Having a human population growth to as high as 1 million a year has a variety of consequences. Population grows fastest in the world's poorest countries. High fertility rates have generally been strongly correlated with poverty, and high childhood mortality rates as learned from the past. Falling fertility rates are generally associated with improved standards of living, increased life expectancy, and lowered infant mortality. Overpopulation and poverty have long been associated with increased death, and disease. Families tightly packed into unsanitary housing are inordinately vulnerable to natural disasters and health problems.

The rapid expansion of population size observed since the end of World War II in the world's poorest nations has been a cause of their poverty.  

Poverty is a condition that deprives the basic needs of people that start at the family level. It is a major concern of humankind, because it reduces human beings to a low level of existence. Poor people lack access to enough land and income to meet basic needs. A lack of basic needs results in physical weakness and poor health. Poor health decreases the ability of the poor to work and put them deeper into poverty.  The system goes in cycle.

Instead of allowing poverty to persist, it is highly important to limit our number because in densely populated countries come lack of adequate food, water, shelter, education and employment. High fertility, which was once been traditionally associated with prosperity, prestige, and security for the future, now jeopardizes the chances of many to achieve health and security.

On the other hand, having a large population like 100 million people may not at all just bear  negative effects.  Perhaps, it also carries its own benefits, we will see.

Many think having a large population is a big problem. The reasons above may seem to be the issue why.  But if one sees rapid population growth as rather a fundamental development challenge than it is a problem, then, that is where its positive effects lie.

Population growth and urbanization go hand in hand, and economic development is closely correlated with urbanization.  As we can see, rich countries are associated with urban countries.  No country has ever reached high income levels with low urbanization.. Population growth increases density and, together with rural-urban migration, creates higher urban agglomeration. This being the case, is critical in achieving sustained growth because large urban centers allow for innovation and increase the scale of the economy. Companies can produce goods in larger numbers and more cheaply, serving a larger number of low-income customers. Let us take a look on Kenya where it has companies which have been benefitting from increasing population growth and density in targeting the large numbers of lower and lower-middle income groups”. Their business model is viable because they can serve a multi-million customer base, which has increased by 25% over the last 10 years and which continues to grow rapidly.

There is no guarantee that we can duplicate Kenya or other nations in their effort to make their highly populated county turns into  more of a benefit than considering it a plague.  It might be possible but it depends on many factors as well.

With great efforts from the government particularly from its leaders, the current pattern of population growth would  not become the main hindrance to  development to a country with a hundred million population anymore.  It can   even be a positive force, who knows.  In other words, what we need instead are capable civil servants to ensure that good governance are ensured to cope with a larger population.

As the saying goes "..there is strength in numbers..." so we remain to be optimistic.

Related articles

• John Tui: Samoan Hunk in 'Battleship'
• Taylor Kitsch Saves the World Again in 'Battleship'
• Alexander Skarsgard: Oh Captain My Captain in 'Battleship'
• A Slimmer Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street

The Search for the Cure for AIDS Continues

Thus far, there is no cure for AIDS or HIV infection. There may be an antiretroviral treatment that can suppress and thus delay the illness for many years, but it cannot clear the HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, completely. The endless wait for a certain drug or treatment to cure the life threatening  disease must have prompted many of the bogus inventors to come up and promote fake cures, thereby, duping the public.  The occurrence of unproven AIDS cures have been around since the early 1980’s when the syndrome emerged.  In more ways than one, they have only served to worsen the suffering.

To cure AIDS is generally to mean clearing the body of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The virus replicates in itself, by inserting its genetic code into human cells, specifically a type known as CD4 cells. Usually, the infected cells produce numerous HIV particles and die immediately after. Antiretroviral drugs interfere with this replication process, which is why the drugs are so effective at decreasing the amount of HIV in a person’s body to extremely low levels. During treatment, the concentration of HIV in the blood often falls so low that it cannot be detected by the viral load test, the standard test used to detect HIV in the blood.

Unfortunately, however, not all infected cells behave the same way. Perhaps, the most vital problem is posed by “resting” CD4 cells. Once infected with HIV, these cells lie dormant for many years or even decades, instead of producing new copies of the virus. Current therapies cannot remove HIV’s genetic material from these cells. Despite taking antiretroviral drugs for many years they will still have some HIV hiding in various parts of their body. Studies have found that should treatment is removed; the HIV can re-establish itself by leaking out from their so called “viral reservoirs”.

A cure for AIDS must somehow remove every single one of the infected cells.

A reputable research on curing AIDS believes that the best hope to eradicate the HIV infection lies in the combination of antiretroviral treatment with that of drugs that flush HIV from its reservoir.  The concept lies on forcing the CD4 cells at rest to become active, whereupon they will start to produce new HIV particles by which the activated cells should immediately die or be destroyed by the immune system, and the released HIV should be mopped up by the antiretroviral medication.

There were attempts to use this particular technique by using interleukin-2 in the past.  This particular chemical sends messages to the body to create more CD4 cells and activate resting cells. Researchers who gave interleukin-2 together with antiretroviral treatment discovered they could no longer find any presence of infected resting CD4 cells. But as soon as the patients stopped taking antiretroviral drugs, the virus came back again, which could only mean that interleukin-2 is a failure in terms of clearing all the HIV present in the blood

The creation of a massive number of active CD4 cells poses a major problem though. That HIV still has the tendency to infect a few of these cells and replicate despite antiretroviral drugs, thus keeping the infection alive. Scientists are now investigating chemicals that don’t activate the entire resting CD4 cells, but rather only the small portion of which that are infected with HIV.

One drug came into consideration is valproic acid, a certain drug  used to treat epilepsy and other conditions. In 2005, a group of researchers caused a sensation when they reported that valproic acid in combination with antiretroviral treatment had remarkably reduced the number of HIV-infected resting CD4 cells in about three of four patients. A hopeful conclusion was then issued that although the finding is not really definitive; it nonetheless suggests that new approaches allow the cure of HIV in the future.

Unfortunately, it seems such optimism was premature and short-lived as more recent studies suggest that there are no long term benefits of valproic acid. It may be possible that all related approaches are flawed in the first place because the virus has other hiding places besides resting CD4 cells.

There is a lot about HIV that remains unknown. We can be certain though that legitimate studies have been continuously searching for a miracle cure.  Meanwhile, the search continues. 

Big Deal on the RH Bill

     I am a devoted Roman Catholic and I am for the Philippine’s Reproduction Health Bill more popularly known as the RHbill.  I believe in my heart that one can be both a good Catholic Christian while promoting family planning.  In my opinion, one cannot be regarded as unchristian just because of a certain choice that one he/she undertakes to improve the quality of life.  I choose to side for the bill because of how obviously population explosion contributes largely to poverty among Filipinos.  Poverty could become a breeding ground for anything evil.

     Consider this, when an average family has more than enough children than the breadwinner can afford to feed, the most next likely thing to happen is hunger, illiteracy and the worst, crime.  Let’s face it, every family has its own capability to raise a family depending on its financial capacity. Such that what is true to one family, may not hold true to the other. One family may be able to raise four children while another can only be able to raise only two depending on the situation. Raising children does not only limit to putting food on the table. It goes beyond as giving time and resources to raise him well as giving him a decent shelter provide for his/her education and giving him a quality time so, the children grow to be responsible and upright productive adults.

     Reproductive health bill is about reproductive care which ensures the complete well-being of the reproductive system from its functions down to its processes. Our body is not a manufacturing machine where babies come and go. Though one goal of building a family through marriage is to pro- create, the bill helps to ensure that  married couple have the freedom to decide when and how often to do so as long as they have done nothing against the law. RH bill specifically does not support abortion and that doing so remains a crime punishable by law.

     Likewise, worth commendable to the RHbill is the birthing services to solve maternal deaths whose proponents covers a wide range of concerns related to mothers who are in fact seems to be the most to benefit from the bill.  It covers the following: a)Information and access to natural and modern form of family planning; b)Maternal, infant and child health and nutrition; c) Promotion of breast feeding; d) Prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications; e) Adolescent and youth health; f)Prevention and management of reproductive tract infections, HIV/AIDS and STDs; g)Elimination of violence against women; h) Counseling on sexuality and sexual reproduction health; I) Treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers; j) Male involvement and participation in RH; k) Prevention and treatment of infertility and; l)RH education for the youth.  It is sad to know how many maternal deaths in the past could have been prevented had more Filipino women have access to reproductive health care and information. It’s quite alarming that 32% maternal deaths could have been reduced or altogether prevented had family planning been observed as 11 maternal deaths occurs daily in the Philippines while giving birth.

     As a mother of two boys ages 11 and 12, I wouldn’t mind my kids getting proper sexual education in school than them getting them from their peers who might give them the wrong information.  Come to think of it, what is taboo in the olden days cannot anymore be applied in this changing world. Children are naturally inquisitive, so much so, that rather than them asking questions relating to sex and sexuality from persons not in authority, might as well tell or educate them in a manner appropriate to their age.

     The passing of the RHbill continues to be the center of so many debates. Philippines is a free country, so, the argument continues as long as it lasts.  Meanwhile, I will continue to support the bill as I have personally witness from my own community how a once otherwise healthy woman turned into a living cadaver of a slave by an irresponsible jobless husband who got her pregnant successively one year after the other.

     The same holds true with another community couple who seems to enjoy bearing children inspite of poverty and witnessing and not minding their children grow up lacking even the basic manners that eventually make them a menace to society.

The Reproductive Health Bill is about responsible parenthood.

Related articles

• John Tui: Samoan Hunk in 'Battleship'
• Taylor Kitsch Saves the World Again in 'Battleship'
• Alexander Skarsgard: Oh Captain My Captain in 'Battleship'
• Dave Franco: The Bad Boy in 21 Jump Street

Amado Bagatsing: No to Sex Education in Schools

Amado Bagatsing is a congressman of Manila’s fifth district. One of his advocacies is House Resolution 1109 which calls for an assembly to modify or revise the Philippine Constitution.

In one of the discussions in the House of Representatives where the topic is all about the Reproductive Health Bill or the RH Bill, Amado Bagatsing said he believes that using contraceptives or any birth control is tantamount to committing abortion. He also said that in the English term, when someone puts a stop to something from taking place, “it is called abortion in English”. He also said that his colleagues are just playing with semantics. He even asked them if what he said is difficult to comprehend.

He also added that concealed in the very controversial and divisive bill is abortion, and that once it is signed into a law, the act of abortion is already legalized.

            Manila Representative Amado Bagatsing also was among the first to  voice out his opinion against mandatory  or obligatory sex education among children. He stipulated that this will only unintentionally open the otherwise closed eyes of children to sex. He also called to attention the parents role in educating the child about sex. He said that parents should be doing the educating about sex and not the government.

Contraceptives: One-way Ticket to Hell?

After the birth of the controversial RH Bill, Catholic moralists nationwide were quick to express their belief that birth control is, well, a sin. According to the Bible, God wanted us to multiply, and to multiply the moralists think we should. Not only do they find contraceptives offensive, some of the (more prudish) moralists are also horrified to learn of the proposed plan to put sex education classes in school. It is safe to say that they are con RH Bill because of their religious beliefs. But then again, why don't other Catholics see contraceptives as a one-way ticket to hell?

            I was born to Catholic parents and was raised Catholic. I studied in esteemed Catholic institutions, where I learned to read ( . . . some parts of) the Bible and learned how to participate in Mass. As soon I was old enough and socially-conscious enough to know about contraceptives, I knew that some fellow Catholics believe that contraceptives are instruments of murder. Oddly, I never saw it like that. I deemed condoms and the pill and the diaphragm as inventive and effective ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies, especially to those who do not believe in abstinence or sex until marriage – which, you know, is pretty much 70 percent of the population.

            Most teenagers today are sexually active. This is where sex education and contraceptives come in handy. Imagine if teenagers, with their crazy raging hormones, were to experiment with sex without proper knowledge or birth control. Imagine how many young girls would fall victim to teenage pregnancies. Didn't Jose Rizal say that today's youth are tomorrow's leaders?  So what happens if tomorrow's leaders are knocked up and/or taking care of their spawns? What happens to the future of our country?

            Say a fourteen-year-old girl experiences something similar to lust. Her hormones are raging and she's feeling butterflies inside her tummy whenever the older, more experienced college boy she's crushing on so much as smiles at her. The college boy notices how the girl's behaving. He entertains ideas about hooking up with her. She knows nothing about sex, considering her parents are too conservative and too awkward to discuss the birds and the bees to her. College boy takes advantage of the naïve girl. She gets pregnant and is labeled a slut by others, when in truth she was merely uninformed. It's a picture that probably happens everyday in our country.

            Sex education is designed to inform the youth of the technicalities and consequences of sex – what should happen if they decide to seal the deal, so to speak. Learning about the various sexually transmitted diseases contraceptives such as condoms avert, youths would be taught to approach sex more cautiously and to be responsible enough to use birth control.

            The aim of the RH Bill is to lessen the birth rate in the Philippines. Apparently, our country is the twelfth most overpopulated nation in the globe. Family planning is one of the most simplest ways to curb the ever-growing problem regarding overpopulation. Some moralists would argue that God wants us to multiply. But seeing as the earth's natural resources are rapidly diminishing as the birth rates shoot up, I do not think God wants us to live in a world where food is scarce. Earth is fast losing the capability to feed its inhabitants. At this rate, years from now – if babies continue to keep popping out of their mothers' wombs at an alarming pace – the number of humans would become much higher than the number of food. This could cause people to fight and scavenge for goods. Instead of living in an ideal Eden, we'd be living in a dystopian world where war and murder are everyday occurrences. Eventually, our earth's resources would disappear entirely, leaving mankind starving to death – literally.

            I think, if there really is a God out there, He would rather have us use birth control than to be denied basic necessities such as food. I think that He wouldn't want us to starve, all in the name of “multiplying.”

            There is nothing wrong with being educated about the perils and aftermaths of sex. And there certainly is nothing wrong with having a choice. If I wanted to use birth control, then I am damn well going to use birth control. It is my body and it is my choice and it is my life.

Related articles

• John Tui: Samoan Hunk in 'Battleship'
• Taylor Kitsch Saves the World Again in 'Battleship'
• Alexander Skarsgard: Oh Captain My Captain in 'Battleship'
• Dave Franco: The Bad Boy in 21 Jump Street

RH Bill Viewed From Another Angle

“But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (1 Corinthians 7:4-6, New International Version)

Whether or not the Reproductive Health Bill will be passed into law, and even if no such bill is proposed, we should be guided by this Bible admonition. The rejection by the Catholic Church of the RH Bill leaves no other alternatives to family planning except the use of the so-called “natural” or “rhythm method” which, in fact, is unnatural because it is done by abstaining from sexual intercourse during the woman’s fertile periods. This goes against the normal sexual urge, which is at peak during fertile periods and such time of abstinence, and is therefore ineffective as a means of birth control. When abstinence is forced, it further leads to infidelity and promiscuity of either spouse, since the deprivation, for lack of self-control, “burns,” seeking release of the burning passion in the bosom of a third party, where adultery begins. God knows the weakness of the flesh, that is why Paul the Apostle advised every husband and wife, thus: “Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (Ibid.) The “natural” or “rhythm method” of birth control fostered by those against the RH Bill goes against this principle written in the Holy Scriptures.

To contend that RH Bill is part of U.S. manipulation of our legal system to push the U.S. agenda of controlling Philippine population thereby preventing the dwindling of Philippine natural resources to provide Americans a steady supply of raw materials and resources for their consumption is to insist that Filipinos are mindless, unthinking, weak, without self-will and sovereignty, and are without control of its own destiny as a people. If it is true that RH Bill is just a means to serve American objectives, and is against the doctrine of the Vatican, why do anti-RH Bill camps also agree that family planning is a must, and natural methods are acceptable, and yet will not agree that controlling the population is necessary? How can family planning be achieved without curbing the population growth? If we are going to let population explosion go unchecked and unmanaged, how can the government provide its basic services to an unlimited number of citizens in a country with limited resources?

The RH Bill is not against life. It is pro-life. If there are loopholes in it, can’t we make amendments to improve it to our own benefit, without fostering the vested interests of foreign entities? Of course we can. Those mathematicians of by-gone centuries who tried to square the circle using only compass and straightedge were fooled by illusions and false hopes. Now we know that squaring the circle is an impossible construction to make. Today, a different kind of illusion, seeming to offer solution to an alarming and urgent national problem, is deceiving the eyes of many. A different kind of false hope-- that we can control the population by mere natural methods without the intervention of government programs and initiatives—is being proliferated by those taking their stand against this proposed RH law.

When God instructed the first couple on earth, Adam and Eve, to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, He was quick in adding to His instruction that mankind “…subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). How can mankind obey this commandment--to subdue or bring the earth under control--if we cannot even bring the population under control? And how can we control the population if we rely on ineffective means?

Let us analyze the problem carefully, let us be objective in looking for the solution, and if we find that RH Bill is anti-Filipinos, let’s modify it. But it addresses a pressing need of the nation.

Related articles

• John Tui: Samoan Hunk in 'Battleship'
• Taylor Kitsch Saves the World Again in 'Battleship'
• Alexander Skarsgard: Oh Captain My Captain in 'Battleship'
• Dave Franco: The Bad Boy in 21 Jump Street

An Unborn Hope: On the RH Bill

            There are only two sides in the RH Bill that an individual stand for. No maybes, only yes or no. when you say ‘yes’, you are prochoice, if you say ‘no’, then you are a prolife. It has long been a history when the RH bill was passed to the senate here in the republic of the Philippines, and the first time that I’ve heard of it, I already know where I firmly stand for—NO.

            It has been a culture here in the family for tight family ties. Consider your own family as an example, do you have a large or a small family, do you live in a home where you see a mother, father, brothers and sisters, you live alone, or you have almost all of your relatives in your home? I guess, most of us Filipinos live as a big family, not only with our parents and siblings but also together with our grandparents and aunites and uncles sometimes. Sometimes, even our sibling/s who are already married still live in the same home. That is the ideal family we consider here in the Philippines. But, would you be happy if it happens the other way around?

            For those who are parts of the smaller families, would you prefer it to be the same, or you think it should be more blissful if the family would be bigger? All of us have different opinions, but more often that not, our family was made naturally to be big or even yet small, someone didn’t really plan that much for how small or big it grows but the Almighty.

            We Filipinos live in a democratic country, and being part of it makes it possible for us to conceive or reproduce the way we choose it to be. When the state decides to how small our family should be limited, we no longer are in a democratic country. We are dictated by the government to limit the size of our family, so where’s the sense of democracy there? No more. When that bill will be granted, we no longer have freedom in making that major decision in life. We exist for a reason, and one reason is for us to be a good steward to the creation of God and multiply. Life is complex and even though reasons are more than enough for us to choose a different decision totally opposite from what always wanted us to be, we still have to value life above all.

            Everyone should be given the chance to have a life, even though that person’s existence is still yet foreseen. Pro-RH bill would say that in order to be good stewards with the creation, we have to be enough in this world, making each of us able to live with all the rights that we should enjoy. Yes, I agree to that. We all need to be good stewards of ourselves, especially the parents to their children and give them all the rights that they should have. That’s the responsibility of every parent. All parents must always remember that they should just bear the number of kids that they can take good care of. There are a lot of things that we should consider before having a family. So, it’s the proper education to each individual, especially the future parents need to have, but not the limitation of having 2 kids for each couple. What if a couple wants to have a soccer team and they can provide the resources that their future kids may have? What if the third kid is the hope of the country, he/ she will no longer be born, and the hope we sought would never ever come to realization. It doesn’t sound good to stop any couple from any wonderful plan to build a large family, it’s their freewill as long as they can provide them their needs.

            Actually I am so happy that I am a Filipino because I enjoy democracy. We are free but, we still have laws. But, to have a limit of 2 kids in a family, it seems like a crime that any couple would commit in case they exceed. And if that comes to a law, anyone who exceeds in bearing would be considered to be a violator of law, and what will the government do in case the child had already been conceived? Probably, the government would prevent that child from growing up. Through how? By killing the child while he/ she is still in his/ her mother’s womb? Oh, that sounds so absurd and so cruel! Our country will be then a country governed by criminals, which I’m sure we all hate to be proud of. Shall we consider being called criminals in our very own way, or continue to laugh, suffer, and grow with our family. I would choose the latter.

Related articles

• John Tui: Samoan Hunk in 'Battleship'
• Taylor Kitsch Saves the World Again in 'Battleship'
• Alexander Skarsgard: Oh Captain My Captain in 'Battleship'
• Dave Franco: The Bad Boy in 21 Jump Street

My Personal Take on the RH Bill

Last Sunday, the whole world celebrated Mother’s Day; exchange of greetings has been made in different social networking sites. That day reminded me of myself being a mother to my seven-year old kid. Having some glimpse on how my older sister managed to be a mother to three kids just as my kid’s age, and to my own mother who dedicated her life to the three of us. I’ve never gone to any house of God for quite some time even on that day. I will only get to visit a church whenever somebody asked me to sing for his or her wedding or whenever I get to be a godmother to a child whose parents have become close to me. God knows that I do believe Him and I praise Him in the way I know how. I teach my daughter to give thanks to Him through prayers and by doing good deeds.

It’s been over a year that I’ve been prying on the daily news over the television. And what seems to be the hottest and trending nowadays was the issue on RH BILL. I saw Risa Hontiveros being interviewed after she has been called a “Devil’s advocate” by supporting the bill. That brought me into thinking about excommunication from the Catholic Church.  And even my dearest Lea Salonga is pro-RH BILL, how I love women who stand up for what they believe; now I love her more. And I will love myself even more.

I really do not have to examine the whole content of the Bill itself, for I have a strong inclination on preserving life. And my way of preserving life was to provide a quality of life to my daughter and myself.

The Church fears that if this Bill becomes a law it would serve as a window to anti-life practices such as abortion. They somewhat believe that there is a hidden agenda beneath the promulgation of this Bill. The Church wants to preserve the sanctity of life, nothing less than that. I understand their stand on this issue. They don’t seem enlightened with what this Bill has to offer to our society.

The people needs security, they need quality of life. If you paying for a low cost housing, with the continuous price hike of everything with a price tag and is a part of a family with three children, having a plain housewife and you are a minimum wage earner, let say P350.00/day without OT, do you think that your +/- 7,700 a month salary could provide the basic needs of your family?  Maybe it could if the needs and wants of the family will not exceed that amount. Maybe with proper budget appropriation it would. What more with the family who’s number of children exceeds three? Wouldn’t you think about going abroad in search for the greener pasture? If you leave, you can kiss the scenery of going home after a day’s work and having dinner with your loved ones goodbye. Goodbye quality family-life. I myself was a product of a grass widow, a family broken by that search for a better life. And it really gives a slash in my chest whenever I though about those years that gives me those “could’ve beens” and should’ve beens”.

The government needs to weigh things; it includes security and quality of life of its people. With regards to funds, believe me or not we have plenty; it’s just a matter of accountability. The government should be very careful with the usage of funds. If this Bill becomes a law, the Government will provide the means and materials to be used in dissemination of this law and sorry to say this will be coming from our taxes.

As a nation with mostly Catholic population, this issue will raise too many points of arguments between different sectors in our society. We are guided by the teachings of the Church and the Filipino Society is indeed divided, why? They have their own interpretation of this Bill. Some, by hook or by crook will go with it, and some will oppose it. Some just dig into it just for the sake of having an argument. Remember Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of Choice; let’s not go too far, lets go into the most basic right that God Himself has given us, Freewill. When I was a child, they used to joke about what the priest was saying after a mass “Go forth and multiply”. Maybe some couple took it literally. They exercised Freewill and followed the order as soon as they got home from churches. Ah, yes Freewill, after all these centuries of existence, after all those years of study in the fields of medicine, out of all the creatures that He Himself has created, we are the only species that is having a hard time controlling our number. We are too busy researching about cures for ailment, end result—prolonged life, overpopulation and the continuous depletion of our resources. But nature has a way of preserving Herself. Human race was gifted with the highest intellect. We should use that discretion every time we are to make a decision.  We are given rights and privileges; we should enjoy it with full responsibility.

People should be educated at all aspects of life.  When does education about the matters of Family planning should start - At home or at school? It should start at home.  If the foundation of the house wasn’t built correctly, no matter how good it looks, it will crumble and later on collapse. Imagine our society as a house, and serving as foundation are the church, the family, the environment, if those foundation doesn’t work with each other, no matter how you try to build your house you will not succeed. This matter should be taken seriously, and the children should be educated according to their age and discernment in the most adept way of learning, we shouldn’t leave them relying on their imagination. Responsible parenting will define the future of our society.

We really don’t need anything except being responsible for our actions.  But before that, we should stand up for what we believe is right and proper. We should always bear in mind that every action has an opposite and equal reaction.

Yes we are aware that we are God’s pro-creators. And pro-creation process was suppose to be the most exciting feeling that we are to experience, from the act itself, it is such a bliss. The childbearing months, it is wonderful moment that you would like to feel till the last breath of your life. The delivery, though quite painful, but still it makes you complete as a woman. And raising the child with a complete family... It is indeed a great journey to take. Motherhood should be the most wonderful feeling that a woman has to go through. And if she dies, who should look after the kid that she gave birth to?

If I may say, we shouldn’t do “it” because we just wanted to experience our earthly pleasures. It is a conjugal agreement between partners. Anything around it must be done with responsible way of thinking.

Population, religion, society, politics, family, and quality of life, if I am to draw a face of a man depicting all these as a whole, what I see is an old man wrinkled with his brows collided. This has been on the desk of some politician since the 80’s.This is a matter of life and death, the rise and fall of our nation as a whole. If we do not act as one, then expect us to fall to pieces and if that happens it is not our burden to keep. We are at the edge of our existence, what is your legacy for our youth? Think about it.

Related articles

• John Tui: Samoan Hunk in 'Battleship'
• Taylor Kitsch Saves the World Again in 'Battleship'
• Alexander Skarsgard: Oh Captain My Captain in 'Battleship'
• Dave Franco: The Bad Boy in 21 Jump Street