CBCP HOPES TEODORO IS SINCERE IN WITHDRAWING SUPPORT FOR RH BILL
DAVAO, JANUARY 29, 2010 (STAR) By Jaime Laude - An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday expressed hope administration presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro’s withdrawal of support for the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill is sincere and not merely to get on the Church’s good side.CBCP-Public Affairs Committee (PAC) chairman Kalookan Bishop Deogracias Ińiguez said Teodoro’s decision to remove his support for the bill would be a “plus” factor since it is one of the criteria the Catholic Church is looking for in a candidate.
Teodoro’s wife Tarlac Rep. Nikki Teodoro is one of the authors of the RH bill. She withdrew support for the bill after her husband declared his candidacy.
Ińiguez said Teodoro’s decision could be his ticket to be included in the list of possible choices for Catholics.
However, he is hoping that the former defense secretary did not only change his stand on the controversial bill just to get the Church’s backing.
“He (Teodoro) could be one of those the Catholic voters can consider. But it would still be the Catholics who would have to evaluate and check the candidates’ criteria. The bishops would not be the one who would choose for them,” Bishop Ińiguez added.
Meanwhile, speaking at the “Make Health Count” forum at the University of the Philippines in Manila yesterday, Teodoro said he is mulling the idea of giving cash rewards to couples who abstain from having more kids.
“We can have a program that would give cash incentives to couples who agree not to have children, perhaps by rhythm (method) if they wish,” he said, adding that the cash awards would be an alternative to government-sponsored artificial contraception such as condoms and pills and other means.
Teodoro said his proposal could be a “win-win” solution to the contending positions of the church and government on how to manage the country’s population growth, one of the highest in Asia.
He said that even if the controversial RH bill still pending in Congress would finally pass before adjournment this year, “it would be impossible to implement it without the support of all the key parties involved.”
The church has consistently opposed the bill.
“While the state may not impose moral standards in connection with the contentious issue, the government should support any means (whether natural or artificial) which an individual has freely made,” Teodoro said.
He emphasized that the “proposed cash incentive is not a solitary solution but is intertwined with the other challenges facing the government.”
Teodoro proposed the cash incentives after former Health secretary Alberto Romualdez, who attended the forum, pointed out that rich women usually have only two children and poor women have up to six.
He said he backed down from endorsing the latest version of the RH bill because it was creating an “acrimonious situation (between the government and the Church) resulting in failed expectations.” – With Evelyn Macairan
Lakas-Kampi national president says consensus firming up it will be Gibo vs Noynoy in 2010 polls 01/29/2010 MALAYA
With the campaign for the May elections more than a week away, consensus is firming up that the presidential race will come down to a fight between cousins Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. and Benigno Aquino III amid signs its outcome will be influenced heavily by the young and conscientious voters.
“With the Villar campaign unraveling, with Teodoro becoming the idol on the campus tour, there is a sense the election will come down to a two-man fight between the cousins,” said Sarangani Gov. Rene Miguel “Migz” Dominguez, the Lakas-Kampi-CMD national president.
Dominguez said although he came in late in the race, Teodoro has “broken through conjectures and speculations about what his candidacy ultimately means to the future of our country.”
Teodoro has spent four weeks on the campus tour, his frank encounters with students peeling away layers of doubts and exposing the best of his presidential qualities and his comprehensive program to modernize this nation of 93 million.
“Gibo Teodoro has emerged as his own man, and many Filipinos, particularly the young, now realize this,” Dominguez said.
They also believe like Senator Aquino, the Liberal Party standard-bearer, Teodoro is clean, honest and incorruptible, he said.
But it is in the area of intellectual capacity, competence and leadership where Teodoro is beginning to impress Filipinos.
“More Filipinos now believe that Gibo is the most objectively qualified and competent among the presidential candidates,” Dominguez added.
The dramatic turnaround in Teodoro’s campaign is mirrored in the mock elections on campuses and presidential forums he has consistently topped, and in the army of “green” supporters that have flocked to his Facebook account in the Internet, Dominguez said.
Although Aquino dominates the opinion polls, and the second-placed Sen. Manny Villar of the Nacionalista Party is closing the gap, things are looking up for Teodoro in the numbers game.
Since early January, Teodoro’s numbers have risen phenomenally in focus group surveys in schools and in key business and socio-civic organizations, Dominguez added.
He said the controversial report of the committee of the whole of the Senate finding Villar guilty of unethical conduct in the C-5 insertion controversy, are ominous signs for the NP bet.
“We are seeing the unraveling of the Villar campaign,” Dominguez said. “Because of his perceived failure to answer responsibly to the charges, he has created a far different portrait of himself than his campaign jingles seemed to convey.”
The bottom line for Filipino voters is that this election “should not be about vague promises and campaign jingles or even about a candidate’s relatives,” he said.
This campaign is about personal qualifications and competence of the presidential candidate, he said. “Using this as a yardstick, I believe that Teodoro is a winner,” he added.
Meanwhile, volunteer “Green Teams” of reform-minded university students have mushroomed in key colleges and universities and are helping fuel a growing one-line consensus in favor of Teodoro.
His on-line friends in various pro-Gibo networking groups now stand at more than 300,000 members, including the more than 62,000 signers in his Facebook account, youth coordinator Lucas “Luke” Britannico said.
“We are amazed at the number of friend requests that Secretary Teodoro has been receiving lately; it seems that we are receiving a request every minute,” he said.
Britannico added their goal is to get at least one million friends before the May 2010 elections.
Started last month, Teodoro’s Facebook account received an initial request of 800 before ballooning to 15,000 early this January and to 20,000 members after Teodoro visited the cities of Davao, Cebu and Iloilo last week, Britannico said.
Most applicants are college-level students who are attracted to Teodoro because of his clear platform of government and his willingness to engage social networking groups in conversations to explain his programs, he said.
The youth are also more attuned to political issues and more scrutinizing of politicians seeking public office than the previous generation, he said.
“Today’s youth want more than the popularity and pomp of past politicians. They want performance and they will vote only for politicians who can provide something for their future,” Britannico said.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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