The Roman Catholic church in the country and their affiliate organization are not only contented with their recent disgraceful attempts to interfere with the democratic process by blocking the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill pending in Congress, but are now questioning the effectiveness of promoting condoms to curb population growth.
The Catholic Association of Doctors, Nurses and Health Professionals in Asia (ACIM-Asia) is using the doctrinal ecclesiastic muscles of the church to propagate half-truths and lies by warning the public that condom promotion encourages premarital or free sex in this article.
"Condom is really dangerous. If we are promoting truthful public information then tell the people that using condom is dangerous. Thailand's experience clearly says that using condom is not safe sex," Yolly Eileen Gamutan, secretary of ACIM-Asia–Philippines, said in an article on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.
The article further stated that noted that by end-2003, Thailand got the highest percentage of HIV/AIDS cases with 570,000 adults and children living with HIV as compared to 9,000 in the Philippines. The figures resulted to 58,000 AIDS deaths in Thailand while only 500 are recorded in the Philippines.
It seems that from those figures alone, ACIM-Asia-Philippines concluded that condom use did not deter the spread of HIV/AIDS. This is very predictable, especially coming from the usual dreary retinue of Catholic campaigners, but it does not mean it makes sense. This is like a one-plus-one-equals-ten argument since it did not take into consideration that the number could have inflated further had the Thailand government not provided enough condoms and contraceptives to the public.
It also displayed a perverted logic equaled only by the recent insane blatherings of the Vatican priests and cardinals during their tour of Africa early last year. They claim then and they claim now that condoms will lead to greater levels of promiscuity among young people as if there COULD really be greater levels of promiscuity among young people.
Some more religious nonsense from ACIM-Asia-Philippines as they also accused the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) of pressuring the Philippine government to jack up the family planning budget from PhP 180 million to PhP 12 billion.
So what? If CBCP can lobby for support to satisfy the doctrinal requirements and dictates of the Vatican, why can't PLCPD do the same to help the 90-million Filipinos. The efforts of ACIM-Asia-Philippines to discredit the work and clip the wings of PLCPD is a prime example of a perverted application of the 'freedom of speech' mandated by the Constitution even by the disgusting standards of widespread pedophilia countenanced by the Roman Catholic church.
According to PLCPD, they are just responding to the popular calls for action to combat rising population growth and extreme poverty. Now whether such a scheme will work, it is still not certain. Maybe it needs a little fine-tuning by teaching parents to take more responsibility for the sexual awareness of their adolescent children. However, one thing is clear at this point, following the Catholic church teaching to the letter, which encourages everyone to go out and multiply, could easily make strict Islamic fundamentalism seem moderate and humane.
Hopefully, the President has the nerve and the will to tell these medieval bigots that the Philippine Reproductive Health policy is non-negotiable and if the Prussian Pontiff in Vatican does not like that, then tough shit.
The Catholic Association of Doctors, Nurses and Health Professionals in Asia (ACIM-Asia) is using the doctrinal ecclesiastic muscles of the church to propagate half-truths and lies by warning the public that condom promotion encourages premarital or free sex in this article.
"Condom is really dangerous. If we are promoting truthful public information then tell the people that using condom is dangerous. Thailand's experience clearly says that using condom is not safe sex," Yolly Eileen Gamutan, secretary of ACIM-Asia–Philippines, said in an article on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.
The article further stated that noted that by end-2003, Thailand got the highest percentage of HIV/AIDS cases with 570,000 adults and children living with HIV as compared to 9,000 in the Philippines. The figures resulted to 58,000 AIDS deaths in Thailand while only 500 are recorded in the Philippines.
It seems that from those figures alone, ACIM-Asia-Philippines concluded that condom use did not deter the spread of HIV/AIDS. This is very predictable, especially coming from the usual dreary retinue of Catholic campaigners, but it does not mean it makes sense. This is like a one-plus-one-equals-ten argument since it did not take into consideration that the number could have inflated further had the Thailand government not provided enough condoms and contraceptives to the public.
It also displayed a perverted logic equaled only by the recent insane blatherings of the Vatican priests and cardinals during their tour of Africa early last year. They claim then and they claim now that condoms will lead to greater levels of promiscuity among young people as if there COULD really be greater levels of promiscuity among young people.
Some more religious nonsense from ACIM-Asia-Philippines as they also accused the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) of pressuring the Philippine government to jack up the family planning budget from PhP 180 million to PhP 12 billion.
So what? If CBCP can lobby for support to satisfy the doctrinal requirements and dictates of the Vatican, why can't PLCPD do the same to help the 90-million Filipinos. The efforts of ACIM-Asia-Philippines to discredit the work and clip the wings of PLCPD is a prime example of a perverted application of the 'freedom of speech' mandated by the Constitution even by the disgusting standards of widespread pedophilia countenanced by the Roman Catholic church.
According to PLCPD, they are just responding to the popular calls for action to combat rising population growth and extreme poverty. Now whether such a scheme will work, it is still not certain. Maybe it needs a little fine-tuning by teaching parents to take more responsibility for the sexual awareness of their adolescent children. However, one thing is clear at this point, following the Catholic church teaching to the letter, which encourages everyone to go out and multiply, could easily make strict Islamic fundamentalism seem moderate and humane.
Hopefully, the President has the nerve and the will to tell these medieval bigots that the Philippine Reproductive Health policy is non-negotiable and if the Prussian Pontiff in Vatican does not like that, then tough shit.