CEBU CITY, Philippines - Stung by the labels “anti-life” and “pro-abortion” given by Catholic church activists, 4th district Representative Benhur Salimbangon said he only signed the bills on reproductive health to allow full discussion in Congress.He said his signature doesn’t necessarily mean support. The first-term congressman said he would continue to go to Mass and receive communion with a clean conscience. "It's up to the church. For me, I have no malice at all, but I don't think they will deny me (the sacrament). Mopadayon ta, pero og hatagan ta kung dunay sili, okay lang gihapon, but definitely I don't think if they will do it, sobra ra pod na,” Salimbangon said. He and Representative Nerissa Soon-Ruiz were singled out as Cebu legislators who were among the congressmen who signed a consolidated bill that will set a national policy on population, parenthood and reproductive health of women. Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, who led Saturday’s prayer rally in Cebu City to defend the “dignity of human life,” warned both congressmen to “reconsider” their position because the bills promote contraception, sex education for grade 5 pupils up to high school, and other moves that would weaken family life. The latest pressure – a warning that those who support the controversial House bills were unworthy of receiving Holy Communion – came from Ozamiz Archbishop Jesus Dosado in a pastoral letter and echoed in Cebu by Monsignor Achilles Dakay. Salimbangon on Monday called up Monsignor Dakay and Monsignor Boy Alesna to explain his side on the issue. But he wanted to see Cardinal Vidal to assure to him that he is a good servant and had high respect for the archbishop. "I would like to clarify I am pro God, pro-life and pro-church. Once we discuss the bills, if we can find a solution, I definitely will decide with whatever is the stand of the church, kay mituo man ta niana. But it has to be discussed, that’s our purpose,” he said. The bill is called “An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development, and for Other Purposes.” The comprehensive bill consolidates various proposals, including Albay Representative Edcel Lagman’s House bill 17 or the Responsible Parenthood and Population Development Act of 2007. Salimbangon said he wanted to fast track discussion in the House to find a clear solution to poverty-related problems of overpopulation and abortions by women dealing with unwanted pregnancies. With technology exposing more children to sex, he said he favored sex education for the young, but it has to be determined at what age that this must be taught. "We have to look into the problem more objectively and not emotionally. Dili man ni nato mahimo kung dili nato pasakaan og bill aron ma-discuss ", he said. Representative Pablo Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district), who didn’t sign the bill, said having a big family doesn’t necessarily lead to poverty. As the seventh of 11 siblings, the congressman has a large family himself with eight children with wife Esperanza. “Suppose my parents were practical and stopped after having five children; I would not have been born,” said the congressman grinning. “It’s in the law that you must protect life from the moment of conception,” Garcia said. “I don’t buy the argument that population has something to do with poverty.” Garcia said he did not sign the reproductive health bill because he considers abortion an immoral act, and for Catholics, “against the law of God.”
A gray area in the bill is whether the use of contraceptives like the injectable drug Depo Provera is tantamount to abortion, as Catholic leaders insist. /With Reports from Doris Bongcac and Jhunnex Napallacan | 
