INTERPELLATE and amend. Don’t delay.
It is in our view that the move by some Senators to withdraw their signatures in the committee report of SB 1979 or the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Bill is not just counterproductive but unfair.
It is unfair to the bill’s authors as well as children’s and women’s rights advocates who have held consultations, helped refine, and participated in the legislative process fair and square since the bill was first filed in the 17th Congress. This bill has been almost a decade in the making!
What’s the point of plenary deliberation if we can’t use this time to thresh out differences, propose amendments, or improve the current language of the bill?
For everyone’s information, this bill was UNANIMOUSLY passed by the House of Representatives on September 5, 2023.
232 affirmative votes, 0 negative votes, and 0 abstention.
In the Senate, the bill has stalled in the Period of Interpellation since August 2024.
For many days since August 2024, the bill was scheduled for interpellation, but was never taken up.
We would like to call on Senators Joel Villanueva and Migz Zubiri to show us the provisions of the bill that they have been describing as inappropriate in the media and start deliberating the author and sponsor of the bill now.
Show us what is inappropriate in this bill, and for once, be fair to those who have worked hard to support a legislation that protects children, especially girls, from the dire consequences of abuse and teenage pregnancy.
Do it through the proper legislative channel.
Proceed with your intention to deliberate the author and propose to delete what you believe should be deleted.
- Child Rights Network (CRN) Philippines
