Faculty members from De La Salle University outline their arguments and support the RH Bill

1. THE RH BILL IS PRO-LIFE
We, the undersigned Faculty Members of the De La Salle University, acting individually, and with reasoned
conviction, cognizant of our role in society as champions of enlightenment and in pursuit of our mission to create a haven
for critical Christian thinkers committed to serve society, particularly the poor, assert that:
 The right to life is a fundamental Christian tenet that finds full meaning when combined with the inherent rights of humans to
a decent, safe, and productive existence as well as to an all-round development. Thus, beyond protecting the very important
right of the unborn, it must extend to a recognition that a life that is weighed down by poverty, sickness, and social inequality
- now compounded by environmental stresses - deprives humans of agency to transform themselves and the world for the
common good.
 A key dimension of the democratic ideal at the core of our community and country is the promotion of pluralism and diversity.
In a society marred by great imbalances of power and wealth, the freedom that comes with choice has become a privilege.
Empowering the poor and the marginalized, women in particular, requires opening up opportunities for their self-
actualization. In this modern day, it is alarming that death from childbirth continues to claim 4,500 women every year or
about 12 every day. Lack of access to quality and affordable reproductive health services and timely information as much as
poverty has kept many women from finding their own voice, exercising their basic rights, and taking their place as full
members of society.
 The current population level, ranged against the level of our physical, environmental, and natural resources, is only one –
albeit important – factor to the worsening quality of life of Filipinos. While our population growth rate has declined somewhat
below the two percent threshold, it is still higher relative to the increase in the incomes of families in the 7th to the 10th decile
groups – the segment of the population with the highest proportion of those living in absolute poverty as well. Here, among
these groups, the quality of life is severely compromised due to an increase in population.
 Part of a meaningful celebration of life itself is the affirmation of the inherent moral standing of every human being, who has
the capacity to make reasoned decisions, guided both by moral and ethical considerations, as well as by scientific truths and
conventions. The ability to make moral judgments, however, requires knowledge and information, and for those living in
materially constrained circumstances, requires further support from the society. The capacity to provide that support now
rests with the State and its instrumentalities.
Our belief in the above mentioned premises leads us to express support for the Reproductive Health Bill in both houses of
Congress as a much needed step toward the attainment of a just and democratic society which celebrates life at its fullest
range and quality. Our support to the RH Bill is grounded on the following convictions:
 Enacting the RH Bill into law would strengthen the capacity of the State to assist women and their partners to make informed
choices, thereby helping them to become healthy and responsible parents and attain a life of quality for themselves and their
families. This is achieved by providing women and their partners, particularly the poor, with information and other forms of
reproductive health support, including safe and affordable methods that do not violate the Constitutional provision declaring
as illegal abortion and, by implication, the sale and promotion of abortifacient birth control technologies.
 The passage of the Bill, and with the active participation of parents and the guidance of the educational and moral leaders of
society, will help provide the youth with access to age-appropriate knowledge and information that would equip them to
make decisions that would prevent them from having early and premarital sex, unwanted and teen pregnancies, and
abortions, and help them become healthy and responsible parents in the future.
 The RH Bill is not a panacea to solve the problem of poverty; it is a vital component of the complex set of interventions that
all sectors of society, not only the State, should undertake to promote and make successful.
 The RH Bill provides only options for individual citizens, and does not contain coercive or punitive mechanisms to compel or
penalize persons to act against their own religious beliefs, moral and ethical convictions, and cultural sensibilities. For
example, and to respect the religious rights of individuals, a health worker cannot be compelled by the state to disseminate
artificial contraceptives, or parents may pull their children out of sex education classes.
 The Bill would ensure the allocation of public funds to finance what appear to be personal and individual concerns such as
the number and spacing of children a couple should have, or the health and well-being of individuals on issues that may not
be seen in the ordinary sense as public health risks. This is consistent with the Christian value of empathy and social

2. responsibility, and of shared commitment to the promotion of a quality of life where a healthy balance between population
and its physical environment is achieved that would help ease the burden on our collective social fabric and limited
resources.
It is for these reasons that we are confident that we are affirming our commitment to a life with quality when we set our
signatures herein.
The following members have already signed the Statement, with their original signatures on file:
Prof. Ma. Arcadio G. Malbarosa, Political Science
Dr. Antonio P. Contreras, Political Science
Prof. Louie Montemar, Political Science
Prof. Anna Malindog, Political Science
Dr. Grace Roldan, Political Science
Dr. Antoinette Raquiza, Political Science
Prof. Gina Lomotan, Political Science
Dr. Francisco Magno, Political Science
Dr. Levita A. Duhaylungsod, Political Science
Mr. Robin Garcia, Political Science
Prof. Mark Evidente, Political Science
Prof. Allen B. Surla, Political Science
Prof. Antonio Pedro Jr., Political Science
Prof. Michael Angelo B. Promentilla, Chemical Engineering
Prof. Ma. Carla Pacis, Literature
Mr. Anthony Lawrence A. Borja, Political Science
Dr. Luis F. Razon, Chemical Engineering
Mr. Anton Simon M. Palo, Psychology
Dr. Robert E. Javier Jr., Psychology
The following members have signed the Statement by e-mailing us their scanned signatures:
Dr. Allan Benedict I. Bernardo, Counselling and Educational Psychology
Prof. Ronnie Holmes, Political Science
Atty. Avelino M. Sebastian Jr., College of Law

3. The following members have expressed support through e-mail, and have indicated they will sign:
Dr. Arturo Pacificador Jr., Mathematics
Dr. Rochelle Lucas, English and Applied Linguistics
Dr. Danilo Dayag, English and Applied Linguistics
Dr. Jeane Peracullo, Philosophy
The following has expressed support and e-mailed an authorization to consider him a signatory to the Statement:
Atty. Arno Sanidad, College of Law
Via RH Bill Portal:
Atty. Emily Sanchez Salcedo, Commercial Law Department
(the following as shared by Louie Checa Montemar)
Redento B. Recio, Polsci/LSIG
Arnel B. Galgo, COSCA
Rey Pomarca, COSCA
J. Bartolome, COSCA
Jon Alcazar, COSCA
Ma Ella Oplas, Polsc