TORRES, ARCHIESYL EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEECH:

PUBLIC SPEAKING SPEECH OF INTRODUCTION

Mayor Lim, Fr. Baaga, Justice Austria-Martinez, Dean Marquez, professors, students, ladies and gentlemen, a pleasant morning to all of you. We are all gathered in this university forum to talk about the pending Reproductive Health Bill in the senate and its advantages and disadvantages to the society, especially to the students. It is a great honor and privilege to introduce to you the author of Senate Bill No. 2865 or the Reproductive Health Act of 2011, who is no other than Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago. She is the Judge-elect of the International Criminal Court and a member of the Senate of the Philippines. She is a lawyer, former trial judge and professor of constitutional and international law. She earned a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude, and Bachelor of Laws cum laude from the University of the Philippines College of Law. Among her many achievements were the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, which is known as Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize and the Australian Women's Magazine in 1996 ranked Santiago 69th among The 100 Most Powerful Women in the World, sharing the honor with former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, who ranked 58th. Lastly, she shared some of the spotlights in the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Corona as a senator-judge.

As the author of the RH Bill, she is of the position that the said law should be passed by the Congress as it will keep abortion a crime and will prevent unplanned pregnancies. Senator Santiago advocates that the RH bill does not support abortion nor does it promote abortifacients and that the bill upholds the right to privacy in terms of sex, marriage, and procreation because it allows them to choose their preferred family planning method. Thus, she has graced us with her presence to further lighten us students in this controversial issue. Thank you all for listening. And now, let us give a round of applause to our guest speaker, Senator Santiago.