MANILA, Philippines - Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III vehemently denied that he and other opponents of the reproductive health (RH) bill in the Senate are delaying deliberations on the controversial measure.
Sotto was reacting to a statement by Senate health and demography committee chair Pia Cayetano, a co-sponsor of the bill, during Monday's session that the period of interpellation and debate should be stopped "unless there's an intention to delay" the process.
"I would like to take exception to the statement that this might be a delay," he said.
Sotto said he was irked by statements by the bill's supporters in the media that the Senate's leadership is intentionally delaying deliberations on the bill so that it would not be put to a vote anytime soon.
Both he and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile are against the RH bill.
"If I am delaying this, all I have to do is to ask to read the journal. All I have to do is to filibuster," Sotto said, his voice raised. "I am merely your humble servant."
In her manifestation, Cayetano noted that she and the RH bill's author, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, are always ready to answer questions from colleagues who have reservations about the bill, but that no one seems interested anymore.
"We will be moving to close the period of interpellation," she said.
More senators want to debate
Sotto said, however, that more senators, including Senators Enrile, Ralph Recto, Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., Lito Lapid, and himself, want to debate with the bill's sponsors.
"They say they want to interpellate but they are not ready. What do you want me to do?" Sotto said.
Sotto said that if he really wanted to cause a delay, he could have just not calendared the bill for discussion at all.
He added that he himself wants the bill discussed because more people turn against it the more they hear about it.
Cayetano clarified that she is not accusing Sotto of delaying deliberations on the bill, but appealed to other senators to find time to engage in debates.
She said she is respecting their need for more time to study the measure. "But the bill has been pending for months, and I think we are also entitled due respect," Cayetano added.
The RH bill was last tackled in October until the Senate went on recess.
It was not on the agenda when session resumed in November because senators were busy with deliberations on the proposed 2012 national budget.
Enrile had said discussions on the RH bill would most likely resume in 2012, but Santiago vowed to move to put the measure to a vote within this year.
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