CATAPANG, Jamiel S.

08 – 24 – 2020
RZL110 – B11 Exercise 1.2 – Reflection Paper

To introduce, the Rizal Bill was passed as a law on June 12, 1956. It was then called the
Republic Act No. 1425 and was signed by the 7th President, Ramon Magsaysay Sr. The law
dictates to have Dr. Jose Rizal’s life and works as a part of mandatory readings in all schools,
colleges, and universities, whether it is public or private. On the other hand, the RH Bill was
passed into law on December 21, 2012 and was signed by the 15th Present, Benigno Aquino III.
It was then known as “The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012” or
Republic Act No. 10354. This law states the free access of Filipinos to all contraceptives made in
the modern times. It serves to bring maternal care, control to fertility, and reproductive health
education for the nation easily available. Also, it acknowledges the right to post-abortion care for
all women. Meanwhile, the laws stated above are both opposed by the Catholic church.
To discuss how the Catholic church objected the two different laws passed on 1956 and
2012, respectively, I noticed that they (i.e. clergies) opposed the Rizal Law because of the
thought of being “attacked.” Furthermore, I observed that they contradicted the RH Law
because of the thought of being “sacred.” For the former, I think the church is offended with the
law’s essence because it violates the quality of being rational to conscience and religion. They
apprehended it as something that would make them look and feel bad in the eyes of the people.
For the latter, I think the Catholic bishops antagonized it because of its sacred violation to God.
Since the law promotes post-abortion care, the Bible has verses that are against it. One of them is
a part of the ten commandments, “you shall not murder.”
In conclusion, the Catholic church had different reasons for their oppositions to the
above-mentioned laws. To reiterate, I learned that even though it focuses on strengthening the
nationalistic and patriotic traits of the readers, particularly, of the Filipino youth, the Catholic
church is worried about its reputation that may be affected by how abusive it was at the time of
Rizal. Moreover, on the RH Law, I learned that the church is against it because of religious
thinking. Since the Bible clearly states that killing is a crime, the church reminds the people that
abortion is not different, which means that abortion is a form of killing. Finally, from research, I
have understood that as it opposes the laws, in a way, the church is against the people’s human
rights. Some of the church’s actions depict the selfishness, colonial mentality, and abuse of
power to the countrymen. The clergies obviously hinder everyone’s right to live. I believe that
the Filipino people deserve to learn about the life of Rizal and to have freedom for their own
bodies.