Filipino Chaplains abroad reject RH Bill

MANILA, Sept. 7, 2011―Filipino chaplains across Europe, Middle East and Africa have rejected the reproductive health bill declaring the proposed law as “unfit for passage” and vow to mobilize their constituents to oppose the anti-life measure.

In a statement, the chaplains said enacting RH Bill 4244 into law is the last thing migrant workers would want to happen as it will “further undermine the authority of parents and guardians of the children left behind in the Philippines” by the OFWs.

“We, shepherds to the Filipino faithful, declare the Reproductive Health Bill 4244 unfit for passage, and with the fullness of conviction we are determined to inform, educate and mobilize our constituents in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to uphold our cherished values through the rejection of this bill,” the statement partly read.

The chaplains said migrant workers reject the idea of using taxpayers’ money to fund contraceptives. 

“They would rather see their monetary gains allotted for programs that improve life for families in the Philippines, like better livelihood prospects and educational opportunities for their children, and for measures that assist OFWs in times of emergencies abroad,” the statement said. 

OFWs are regarded as “modern day missionaries” because of the “God-centered and family-oriented Filipino values” they witness wherever they go.

A law on RH bill will only lead “to the decay of the moral foundation underpinning these life-giving values,” the chaplains asserted.

“We want the best for our children and their children, and so we protect our right as parents to be the primary molders of their values, particularly those relating to the purpose of human sexuality. Thus we reject RH Bill 4244 which aims to legislate the blatant violation of our Constitutional right and our conscience as Catholics,” the statement further read. 

The statement was released during the Filipino chaplains’ IX Regional Consultation Meeting for the Filipino Ministry in Europe held last August 25-28, 2011 in Adliswil, Zurich, Switzerland.

Fr. Edwin Corros, CS, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People, said 17 chaplains discussed various concerns in their respective areas, including the RH bill.

According to him, the communities have seen the need to develop vocations from among the Filipino families who have opted to settle abroad because the Catholic Church in the Philippines may no longer be capable of attending to the spiritual needs of Filipino communities in other countries.

“The chaplains have come to realize that Filipino migrants are continuously growing in number and the need to have seminarians from the migrants’ families [to] help the local chaplaincies,” he said.

The chaplains have also expressed concern on the practice of some Filipino communities who invite priests from the Philippines to officiate Masses and administer sacraments without informing the local chaplaincies. 

Corros said the chaplains have called for coordination among the chaplains and priests being invited to foreign countries. (CBCPNews/Melo M. Acuna)