REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES SUPREME COURT Manila EN BANC

James M. Imbong et al.; Alliance for the Family Foundation Philippines, Inc., et al.; Task Force for Family and Life Visayas, Inc. et al; Serve Life Cagayan de Oro City Inc., et al; Expedito A. Bugarin, Jr.; Eduardo B. Olaguer et al; Philippine Alliance of XSeminarians, Inc., et al.; Reynaldo J. Echavez, M.D., et al.; Sps. Francisco S. Tatad et al; Pro-Life Philippines Foundation Inc., et al.; John Walter Juat et al.; Couples for Christ Foundation, Inc. et al., Petitioners, -versusG.R. No. 204819 consolidated with G.R. No. 204934, G.R. No. 204957, G.R. No. 204988, G.R. No. 205003, G.R. No. 205043, G.R. No. 205138, G.R. No. 205478, G.R. No. 205491, G.R. No. 205720, G.R. No. 207111, G.R. No. 207172

Hon. Paquito N. Ochoa, Jr., Executive Secretary, Office of the President, Secretary of Health et al., Respondents. x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x

MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION

COMES NOW the respondents-intervenors The Filipino Catholic Voices for Reproductive Health (C4RH), Inc., Interfaith Partnership for the Promotion of Responsible Parenthood (IPPRP), Emeliza Bayya Mones (former national Council Representative of the UCCP), and Zahria Mapandi (Executive Director of Al-Mujadillah Development Foundation, Inc. (AMDF)), through the undersigned counsel, respectfully move for the reconsideration of the Supreme Court Decision promulgated on April 8, 2014. The Decision is herein quoted partially as follows: 1

WHEREFORE, the petitions are PARTIALLY GRANTED. Accordinly, the Court declares R.A. No. 10354 as NOT UNCONSTITUTIONAL except with respect to the following provisions which are declared UNCONSTITUTIONAL: 1) Section 7, and the corresponding provision in the RH-IRR insofar as they: a) require private health facilities and non-maternity specialty hospitals and hospitals owned and operated by a religious group to refer patients, not in an emergency or life-threatening case, as defined under Republic Act No. 8344, to another health facility which is conveniently accessible; and b) allow minor-parents or minors who have suffered miscarriage access to modern methods of family planning without written consent from their parents of guardian/s; 2) Section 23(a)(1) and the corresponding provision in the RH-IRR particularly section 5.24 thereof, insofar as they punish any healthcare service provider who fails or refuses to disseminate information regarding programs and services on reproductive health regardless of his or her religious beliefs; 3) Section 23(a)(2)(i) and the corresponding provision in the RH-IRR insofar as they allow a married individual, not in an emergency or life-threatening case, as defined under Republic Act No. 8344, to undergo reproductive health procedures without the consent of the spouse; 4) Section 23(a)(2)(ii) and the corresponding provision in the RH-IRR insofar as they limit the requirement of parental consent only to elective surgical procedures; 5) Section 23(a)(3) and the corresponding provision in the RH-IRR, particularly section 5.24 thereof, insofar as they punish any health care provider who fails and/or refuses to refer a patient not in an emergency or life-threatening case, as defined under Republic Act No. 8344, to another health care service provider within the same facility or one which is conveniently accessible regardless of his or her religious beliefs; 6) Section 23(b) and the corresponding provision in the RH-IRR, particularly section 5.24 thereof, insofar as they punish any public officer who refuses to support reproductive health 2

programs or shall do any act that hinders the full implementation of a reproductive health program, regardless of his or her religious beliefs. 7) Section 17 and the corresponding provision in the RH-IRR regarding the rendering of pro-bono reproductive health service, insofar as they affect the conscientious objector in securing PhilHealth accreditation; 8) Section 3.01(a) and (j) of the RH-IRR insofar as it uses the qualifier "primarily" for contravening sec. 4(a) of the RH Law and violating section 12, Article II of the Constitution. The Status Quo Ante Order issued by the Court on March 19, 2013 as extended by its Order, dated July 16, 2013, is hereby LIFTED, insofar as the provisions of R.A. No. 10354 which have been herein declared as constitutional. SO ORDERED. JOSE CATRAL MENDOZA Associate Justice

PREFATORY STATEMENT
The Honorable Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law or Republic Act 10354 (hereinafter referred to as RH Law) except for certain provisions. We commend the Honorable Supreme Court because now we have a national RH Law that mandates the Department of Health (DOH) to procure and distribute modern contraceptives to local government units regardless of who the president or DOH secretary is. The RH Law reiterated the mandate of providing reproductive health education. It mandates the Food and Drug Administration to determine based on medical and scientific standards what are contraceptives and abortifacient. There are serious concerns, however, on issues that greatly impact on religious freedom, gender, adolescents, and human rights. The purported religious freedom couched under conscientious objection, failure or refusal to refer in non-emergency and non-life-threatening cases (Section 7; Section 23(a)(3)), failure or refusal to 3

disseminate information (Section 23(a)(1)), and opposition to pro bono services as prerequisite for PhilHealth accreditation (Section 17) cannot be invoked by healthcare service providers to deny access to reproductive health information and services including family planning services. Such religious refusals are not allowed in the practice of their profession in cases related to contraception. What the petitioners claim as religious freedom couched as conscientious objection is, in reality, a perpetuation of patriarchy meant to control women, stifle their voices, and disempower them. This is a gender issue, a human rights issue, not an issue of religious freedom. In truth, the petitioners are imposing ultra conservative religious standards through our laws in an effort to control womens bodies. These ultra conservative religious standards propagate subordination of women where womens decisions including personal decisions related to pregnancy and childbirth are totally disregarded. Allowing healthcare service providers and local government officials to erroneously claim religious freedom leads to further violations of womens human rights. Permitting healthcare service providers to require spousal consent in non-emergency or non-life-threatening cases (Section 23 (a)(2)(i)) is discriminatory against women. It disregards womens right to decide on their own bodies. This perpetuates subordination of women, patriarchy, and male domination where our Philippine society has provided a license to healthcare service providers to violate womens rights with impunity. Authorizing healthcare service providers to refuse ligation to women due to absence of husbands consent perpetuates discriminatory traditional cultural beliefs where the decision-making of men prevails over women. Permitting this to creep into Philippine law perpetuates discrimination against women and inequality of women in law in clear violation of womens right to equal protection of the law and womens right to privacy. Allowing healthcare service providers to conscientiously object, refuse to refer, and refuse to perform certain procedures without spousal and parental consent in non-emergency and non-life-threatening situations (Section 23 (a)(2)(ii)) is dangerous because it grants a license to a group of people to blatantly violate womens human rights in the name of freedom of religion. Let us remember that certain people have likewise been complicit in perpetuating violence against women by denying women their right to divorce their abusive husbands also in the name of religion. Similarly, let us be mindful of people who continue to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people justifying human rights violations also in the 4

name of religion. The danger of intolerant ultra conservative religious beliefs is that it breeds hatred, hostility, and even violence. Our laws should never countenance this. Women bear the brunt of unintended/unwanted pregnancies, early sex, risky sexual behavior, childbirth, and lack of access to safe and legal abortion. Women are the ones who drop out of school and die due to complications from childbirth and unsafe abortion. We urge this Honorable Supreme Court to reconsider its decision and decide the constitutionality of the RH law in a way that upholds reproductive rights to the fullest extent where the Supreme Court justices will be hailed as champions of womens and adolescent girls rights. Such a decision will further the rights of women to equality and non-discrimination of women. We owe such a decision to our mothers, sisters, and daughters to put a stop to discrimination against women and to make a stand to uphold womens human rights.

TIMELINESS OF THE MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION

C4RH et al received a copy of the Decision issued by Honorable Supreme Court on April 11, 2014. The respondents-intervenors C4RH et al have fifteen (15) days from the time of receipt to file a Motion for Reconsideration or until 26 April, 2001, however, said date falls on a Saturday, therefore, the last day for filing the Motion for Reconsideration is on the next working day or on Monday, 28 April, 2014.

ARGUMENTS
I. The penal provisions of the RH Law are constitutional

A. The rationale for the penal provisions

1. The penalties in the RH Law imposed on healthcare service providers for failure or refusal to refer in non-emergency and non-life-threatening cases (Section 23(a)(3)), failure or refusal to disseminate information (Section 23(a)(1)), and on public officers for refusal to support reproductive health programs and hinder the full 5

implementation of a reproductive health program (Section 23(b)) are crucial for the full and effective implementation and compliance of the RH Law. These were included in the law because there were grave reproductive rights violations in the past. For instance, based on interviews with hundreds of women on the impact of a city policy, there were healthcare service providers who refused to perform ligation when the women tried to seek services in city-run hospitals; there were no free pills in the local city clinics; women recounted the beatings they suffered from their husbands/partners when they refused to engage in sex because of their fear of getting pregnant and not having means to buy their own contraceptives. Many women had adolescent pregnancies and many of them dropped out of school. Two experts from the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women even came to the Philippines in November 2012 to investigate these human rights violations. 2. The penalties in RH Law are important because they make it a clear policy that, in this day and age, these human rights violations should never happen again. In the nature of criminal law, penalties also act as a deterrent to prevent any further acts of human rights violation. If the penalties are there, all healthcare service providers and government officials have to do is to comply and they would not be criminally liable. 3. Let us be reminded that the RH Implementing Rules and Regulations (RH Law-IRR) was drafted by representatives of the DOH, Philippine Medical Association (PMA), Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (POGS), PhilHealth, League of Provinces/Cities/Municipalities, Bishops-Businessmens Conference for Human Development, Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates International, among others. Clearly, this means that the different medical associations such as PMA and POGS were amenable to imposing criminal penalties as a standard for the members of their medical profession. B. The penal provisions should be maintained in light of womens and adolescent girls realities 4. The reality in which many women and adolescent girls live in is harsh and painful. The violence against women and adolescent girls, reproductive rights situation, and reproductive rights violations on womens and adolescent girls show that the penalties imposed on healthcare service providers and public officers for failure or refusal to refer in non-emergency and non-life-threatening cases (Section 23(a)(3)), failure or refusal to disseminate information (Section 23(a)(1)), refusal to perform certain procedures without spousal consent in non-emergency and non-life-threatening situations (Section 23 (a)(2)(i)), refusal to perform 6

certain procedures without parental consent in non-emergency and non-life-threatening situations (Section 23 (a)(2)(ii)), and refusal to support reproductive health programs and hinder the full implementation of a reproductive health program (Section 23(b)) should be maintained. B.1. Violence against Women and Reproductive Health and Rights 5. The 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) released by the National Statistics Office shows that the more children a woman has, the more likely she is to have experienced violence.1 This means that not being able to control ones fertility relates to the power dynamics in the womans relationship with her male husband or partner. The same report found that women who have a high number of children have a high percentage of suffering physical violence during pregnancy.2 6. These findings have to be taken into consideration with the statistics on prevalence of physical and sexual abuse in the Philippines where the 2008 NDHS shows that almost one in four women age 15-49 have experienced either physical or sexual violence; one-third of ever-married women have experienced violence (i.e., physical, sexual or other) by a husband or partner.3 The 2008 NDHS shows alarming findings where it found that more than one in 20 women have experienced suffering deep wounds, broken bones, broken teeth or other serious injuries.4 7. The 2008 NDHS also found that women with low education and low wealth quintile have a high percentage of suffering physical violence during pregnancy5 and that the likelihood of experiencing sexual violence decreases with increasing educational attainment and household wealth status.6 8. We have an immense problem with women and adolescent girls who are at risk of being subjected to sexual and physical violence because data also show that many Filipino women and adolescent girls have low level of educational attainment and household wealth status.7 9. Gender relations and violence against women greatly impact women and adolescent girls reproductive health and rights. Unfortunately, the
1 2

2008 National Demographic and Health Survey [2008 NDHS]. 2008 NDHS. 3 2008 NDHS. 4 2008 NDHS. 5 2008 NDHS. 6 2008 NDHS. 7 2008 NDHS.

findings in the 2008 NDHS shows us the stark reality that machismo is very much prevalent in Philippine society where countless women suffer abuses from their very own husbands or male partners and women are unable to say no to sex due to fear of being subjected to further beatings by their husbands or male partners. With countless women trapped in abusive relationships and unable to say no to sex, we are sure to expect that their abusive husbands and male partners will wield control over their wives and female partners and forbid them from having control over their lives including undergoing a ligation procedure. By their nature, these oppressive and abusive husbands and male partners will exert all kinds of pressure to restrict their wives and female partners through frequent childbirths, forbidding them to have gainful employment, restricting them from visiting friends and family and even controlling their manner of dress. 10. Much work needs to be done to eliminate violence against women, to empower women and to improve the status of women. We can start with disallowing healthcare service providers from requiring spousal consent for medical procedures such as ligation. We can go further by disallowing healthcare service providers from requiring parental consent to get emergency contraceptives in the case of abused minors even when the perpetrator is not the parent or the person exercising parental authority since many minor rape victims fail or delay to report the sexual assault. B.2 Reproductive Rights Violations 11. Imposing restrictions such as spousal consent and parental consent will have an impact on women and adolescent girls reproductive health and rights including high incidence of unintended/unwanted pregnancies, high incidence of maternal deaths, high incidence of unsafe abortion and concurrent high incidence of maternal morbidity and mortality related to complications from unsafe abortion, high incidence of adolescent pregnancies, high drop-out rate from schools of adolescent girls and young women, high incidence of infant mortality, among others. 12. In the Task Force CEDAW Inquiry8 focus group discussions
8

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (OP CEDAW) is a treaty that allows two procedures to seek redress for violations of rights recognized in the CEDAW Convention, namely the communication and inquiry procedures. The inquiry procedure is a mechanism where the CEDAW Committee can investigate grave and/or systematic violations of the CEDAW Convention within a State party. An inquiry under Article 8 of the OP CEDAW may include a visit by the CEDAW Committee members. Such visit can only happen with the consent of the State party. The Philippines ratified the OP CEDAW on Nov. 12, 2003 and

(FGDs) with urban poor women from Tondo, Paco, and Sta. Ana (from 2008 through 2012), there were many disempowered poor women with 9-11 children, women who have had births that were unattended by skilled birth attendants, many women who divulged risking their lives and health by self-inducing abortion using catheters or dispensing drugs without proper dosage and supervision eventually suffering complications, and women who had children in their early teens with their daughters now having children also in their early teens resulting in cyclical early pregnancies. Almost all of the women dropped out of school, some finished elementary or first year high school as their highest level of educational attainment. Many of these young mothers and their children get to eat only one meal a dayone meal at lunch and then they just give their hungry children hot water in the evening to ease their hunger. Some women recounted the beatings they suffered from their husbands/partners when they refused to engage in sex because of their fear of getting pregnant and not having means to buy their own contraceptives. 13. Due to the prevalence of grave and systematic reproductive rights violations in Manila City related to Manila City EO 003 and EO 30, the Philippine-based Task Force CEDAW Inquiry, led by convenors EnGendeRights and WomenLEAD Foundation, the Center for Reproductive Rights (the Center) and the International Womens Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP) sought recourse to the UN and submitted a Request for Inquiry to the CEDAW Committee on June 4, 2008 and, thereafter, supplemental updates to the CEDAW Committee requesting the CEDAW Committee to conduct an inquiry and an on-site visit to the Philippines on the reproductive rights violations related to EO 003 and EO 30 under Article 8 of Optional Protocol to CEDAW. In November 2012, two CEDAW experts, Pramila Patten and Violeta Neubauer, conducted an on-site visit to the Philippines in relation to the request for inquiry. 14. The Philippines will undergo its periodic review with the CEDAW Committee in a year or so and the Supreme Court decision upholding the rights of women will be give the Philippine government the opportunity to show the international community and the CEDAW Committee that the Philippines is using all means to eliminate discrimination against women and to provide womens and adolescents access to reproductive health information and services including the full range of contraceptive methods and effective emergency obstetric care, among others. It will also give the government an opportunity to show that the Philippines is complying with its obligation not to subject women to discrimination by any public authority under article 2(d) of CEDAW, that effective remedies are available through
entered into force three months after deposit of instrument of ratification. See http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/protocol/sigop.htm.

competent tribunals for acts of discrimination under article 2 (c) of CEDAW, its specific obligations to provide non-discriminatory health care (Art. 12, CEDAW), family planning and rights in marriage (Art. 16, CEDAW), access to education and employment (Art. 10, CEDAW) and the obligation to eliminate discrimination based on the reinforcement of traditional attitudes and stereotypes against women (Art. 5, 10 and 11, CEDAW). B.3. Maternal and Infant Health Statistics 15. Adequate birth spacing is important for the health of the woman and the children. Birth spacing of four or more years can increase the survival rate of children less than five years of age. According to the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (2008 NDHS), the under-five mortality rate9 for children born less than two years after a previous birth is 54 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared with 25 deaths per 1,000 for children born after an interval of four or more years. According to the 2008 NDHS, the under-five mortality rate is 34 deaths per 1,000 live births underscoring the importance of access to reproductive health education and effective contraceptive methods to properly space births and reduce mortality of children below five years of age. B.4. The harsh realities adolescents face 16. There are far too many adolescent girls who have unintended and unwanted pregnancies. A closer look at gender relations shows that many adolescent girls were pressured by older adolescent boys and men to engage in sex--without the protection of condoms and other contraceptive methodswhile countless adolescent girls and young women were victims of rape or incest. Some of these adolescent girls and young women were thrown out of their homes by their own parents and ended up in prostitution with no support being provided by the boys and men who impregnated them. Some of those in prostitution were beaten black and blue by their male clients while others became HIV positive.10 17. Many of those who became mothers in their adolescence also had children who themselves became pregnant as an adolescent resulting in

Infant mortality is the probability of dying before the first birthday while under-five mortality is the probability of dying between birth and fifth birthday. 10 Country Analysis of AIDs in the Philippines: Gender and AIDS Situation and Response, Report commissioned by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to EnGendeRights, supported by the UNAIDS Program Acceleration Fund, executed by UNICEF written by Gertrudes Libang, Gladys Malayang, and Clara Rita Padilla.

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cyclical adolescent pregnancies. 11 18. Most of these sexually active adolescents never sought parental consent to avail of contraceptives. If we require parental consent, we will not change this cycle. B.5. Adolescent reproductive health statistics 19. Filipino sexuality is not what many of us older people know it to be during our younger days when the 1996 YAFS 2 came out 18 years ago. So much has changed. Our realities are not the realities of the adolescents and young adults these days. 20. The 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS 4), which the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) and the Demographic Research and Development Foundation, Inc. (DRDF) revealed in February 2014 shows that one in every three youth aged 15 to 24 years old has engaged in premarital sex, the number increasing by more than 14 percent from almost 20 years ago, when the second YAFS was conducted in 1994, or about 6.2 million youth who have engaged in sexual intercourse before marriage, according to Maria Paz Marquez of UPPI. 12 21. The National Capital Region (NCR) has the highest prevalence of premarital sex among youth with 40.9 percent while the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has the lowest prevalence with 7.7 percent. Since the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, it would be safe to presume that the majority of the youth who have engaged in premarital sex in NCR are Catholic meaning more young Catholics engage in premarital sex as opposed to those belonging to the Islamic religion who live in ARMM. 22. The YAFS 4 project coordinator Dr. Josefina Natividad said it was worrisome that 78 percent of those who engaged in premarital sex for the first time were unprotected against the risk of pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted infection (STI). Marquez said most of those who engaged in premarital sex did not want or plan for it to happen. 23. Unlike over a decade ago when the YAFS 3 was conducted in 2002,
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Task Force CEDAW Inquiry focus group discussions with urban poor women from Tondo, Paco, and Sta. Ana (from 2008 through 2012). 12 There were 19,178 respondents, with each one interviewed by researchers for at least an hour. Each of the 17 regions had about 1,000 respondents. 78 provinces, 681 cities and municipalities, and more than 18,000 households were covered from the period of December 2012 to March 2013. View the results at www.drdf.org.ph/yafs4.

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a new phenomenon in sexual activities among the youth has also emerged, said Marquez: friends with benefits---3.5 percent or nearly 800,000 of the youth have experienced regularly having sex with friends they are not in a romantic relationship with. Marquez added that most of these sexual activities are unprotected against the risk of pregnancy and STI. 24. As for adolescent childbirths, prevalence in females 15 to 19 years old has worsened, with those who have begun childbearing more than doubled in the past decade (i.e., from 6.3 percent in 2002, the percentage of females 15 to 19 years old who have begun childbearing has increased to 13.6 percent in 2013). It is alarming that for females aged 19 years old, one in every three females has already begun childbearing. 25. UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Dean Michael Tan said there are 1.4 million mothers aged 15 to 19 years who are having kids. This is most striking, Talk about kids having kids, Dean Tan said during the release of the YAFS 4. In his column dated March 14, 2014, Dean Tan says this means young women are having premarital sex but do not seem to be aware of contraceptionor, if they are aware, are unable to insist on protecting themselves. Young adolescent girls and young women are ending up being exposed to sexual risks. 13 26. During the release of the survey last February, Dead Tan said that with the Supreme Court soon to decide on petitions against the RH Law, this was the kind of information that needed to be presented to the high tribunal. It was precisely those who were against the legislation, he added, who were responsible particularly for the high fertility rates. 27. The researchers also looked at the behavior of the youth, aged 15 to 24 years old, with regard to pornography and other sexual acts facilitated by technology. One in every 100 youth has also recorded herself/himself/her or his partner having sex, which translates to about 150,000 youth said Marquez. Unlike over a decade ago, four in every 100 have had sex with someone they met online or through text messages. 28. Natividad said these sexual behaviors indicate a worsening trend for the youth, particularly with the increased prevalence of premarital sex and the unchanging, low use of contraception and/or protection against STI. Rena Doa of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) added during the release of the survey that early pregnancy denied these young girls of their basic human rights, caused them to drop out of school, and left their potentials
13

Michael L. Tan, Young gender gaps, Philippine Daily Inquirer, March 14th, 2014.

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unfulfilled with the cycle of poverty persisting. She stressed that in many cases, early pregnancy was not the result of a deliberate choice on the girls part, but rather of the absence of choice beyond their control resulting from sexual violence or coercion. 29. The YAFS 4 shows 4.7 percent female smokers. Women who smoke have higher risks of having premature births, miscarriages and underweight infants. 30. With regard to alcohol use, the YAFS 4 shows 21 percent of female who drink alcohol. Drinking can increase risks around sexual behavior due to impaired judgment and rape where researchers have found that many rapes were committed while the woman was intoxicated. The 2013 YAFS also showed that there were 5 percent of females who had took alcohol to the point of passing out. 31. Dr. Emma Llanto of the UP PGH Teen Mom Program found in their research that the middle adolescents (14, 15, 16-year olds) have marked difference in development due to the three to four-year gap compared to late adolescents (17, 18, 19-year olds) where the 16 years old and younger fail to realize the pressure being exerted on them by the older adolescents. That is why Dr. Llanto has started to discuss with young adolescents the dangers of having relationships with males who are three years older than them and that it is their standard practice to check for sexual abuse for girls who are 15 years and younger. She also added that sexual abuse victims tend to be sexually active as a result of low self-esteem related to trauma from the sexual abuse. 32. We must be responsive to the realities of adolescents. Otherwise, we will be complicit to the prevalence of adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights violations. B.6. Disallowing spousal and parental consent will reduce HIV incidence through increased access to contraceptives 33. The annual newly-reported HIV cases rose from 200 in 2004 to 528 in 2008 and the number nearly tripled in 15-24 year-olds from 41 in 2007 to 110 in 2008.14 As of January 2013, the Department of Health registered an average of 12 new cases of HIV/AIDS a day.15 The cumulative total of HIV/AIDS cases is now at 12,082.16 Based on the 2010 UNAIDS Report on

14 15

Aug. 2009 HIV/AIDS Registry. DOH Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry, January 2013 last accessed May 27, 2013. 16 DOH Philippine HIV and AIDS Registry, January 2013 last accessed May 27, 2013.

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the Global AIDS Epidemic, the Philippines is one of seven countries globally with more than 25 percent increase in HIV incidence in the last ten years. 34. The non-governmental organization EnGendeRights conducted FGDs on HIV, gender and age in Cebu, Davao and the National Capital Region from May through June 2010 with People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and they were able to personally witness the impact of the lack of reproductive health education for Philippine adolescents and youths. Their participants in their discussions were 19-24 year old men and women who were already HIV positive, poor women who were forced into prostitution because they had children by age 18 and prostitution was their only means to feed their children, and adolescent girls who were being forced to engage in sex without any protection as part of their initiation rites to being a gang member. 35. In the FGDs that EnGendeRights conducted with PLHIVs, many of the 19-24 year olds who were HIV positive said that they did not learn about HIV prevention, symptoms, treatment and the rights of PLHIVs in their schools. They only became knowledgeable about HIV when they joined PLHIV support groups upon finding out that they were HIV positive. The increase in newly-reported cases only means that the government has not been effectively conducting HIV campaigns. Any delay or snag in the access of contraceptives for adolescents including requiring parental consent significantly impacts the health and lives of our children and adolescents. 36. If we require parental consent for adolescents, we are not responding to the call of the times. We will not halt the HIV transmissions in the Philippines. B.7. Adolescent health risks 37. Dr. Llanto found in their UP PGH Teen Mom Program research that many adolescents have childbirth risks such as eclampsia and pre-eclampsia; that the adolescent girls have anemia because they hide their pregnancies and they delay their pre-natal check-ups usually up to six months meantime they have no iron supplements. She said that adolescent girls have two times higher risk of dying from childbirth than older women while 15-year old adolescents and below have much higher childbirth risks. She also found that infants of adolescents have three times risk of dying as opposed to infants of older women. 38. Adolescents are often not physiologically mature enough for childbearing. Hence, early childbearing is associated with high levels of 14

maternal mortality and morbidity.17 With little contraceptive experience, adolescents have a high risk of having unintended pregnancies.18 Pregnancies of adolescent girls aged 18 years and below are considered high risk pregnancies. Complications due to high blood and maternal mortality are high for adolescent girls giving birth. They also tend to disregard basic pre-natal and post-natal care thereby putting them at risk and adding to occurrence of infant mortality. They are at high risk for undergoing unsafe abortion and for giving birth without the assistance of skilled birth attendants.19 39. The knowledge of many adolescents on reproductive tract infections (RTIs), sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and HIV/AIDS is at a superficial level. STI prevalence is quite high among young females and males compared to the general population, being highest among youth in the 18-24 age groups.20 Risks of transmission during intimate sexual contact include infections to the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which causes most cervical cancers.21 At their young age, adolescents are prone to infections to HPV. 40. According to the WHO, when girls have children, their health can be adversely affected and their education is impeded; their economic autonomy is restricted22 affecting the women personally but also limiting the development of their skills and independence and reduces access to employment, thereby detrimentally affecting their families and communities.23

Center for Reproductive Rights, Implementing Adolescent Reproductive Rights Through the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1999, Sept, available at: http://www.reproductiverights.org/pub_art_adolrights.html. 18 International Consortium on Emergency Contraception (ICEC), Expanding Global Access to Emergency Contraception, A Collaborative Approach to Meeting Women's Needs, 2000, at 32. 19 Skilled birth attendants are health professionals who have been educated and trained to proficiency in skills needed to manage normal labor and delivery, recognize the onset of complications, perform essential interventions, start treatment and supervise the referral of mother and baby for interventions that are beyond their competence or are not possible in the particular setting. Depending on the setting, health care providers such as auxiliary nurse-midwives, community midwives, village midwives and health visitors may also have acquired appropriate skills, if they have been specially trained (WHO Recommendations for the Prevention of Postpartum Haemorrhage, 2007.) 20 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY HEALTH INTERNATIONAL (FHI), 2002 RTI/STI PREVALENCE SURVEY IN SELECTED SITES IN THE COUNTRY, 50 (2002). 21 Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths to women. 2005 Philippine Cancer Facts and Estimate, p. 12. 22 CEDAW General Recommendation No. 21 Equality in marriage and family relations on Article 16 (2), Comment No. 36, Art. 16 (2). 23 CEDAW General Recommendation No. 21 Equality in marriage and family relations on

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41. The transmission of cultural values from one generation to the next includes values related to gender and sexuality. Adolescents and young people are exposed to sources of information and values such as from parents, teachers, media and peers presenting them with conflicting values about gender, gender equality and sexuality. There is also the problem of parents who are reluctant to engage in discussion of sexual matters with adolescents and young people because of cultural norms and their lack of knowledge or discomfort. 24 42. In some instances puberty for adolescent girls may signal an end to schooling and mobility, and the beginning of adult life, with marriage and childbearing as possibilities25 Adolescents and young people may choose to be sexually active or not. Unfortunately, not all sexual relations are consensual, some are forced including rape. 26 43. Young children and adolescents especially girl children and adolescent girls are often vulnerable to rape and incest by older men and family members, placing them at risk of physical and psychological harm and unwanted and early pregnancy.27 Incest can actually happen for a prolonged period of time even lasting for years without the proper legal and psychological intervention. B.8. Adolescents Need Contraceptive Information and Services; Providing Adolescent Reproduction Health Education Does Not Increase Sexual Activity 44. According to a study in the British Medical Journal, educating teenagers about emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs), a form of contraceptive, does not increase use of ECPs, nor does it increase sexual activity.28 In Finland, abortion rates among adolescents dropped following the increased access to information on emergency contraception.29 45. Adolescents must be provided with information and services necessary to enable them to protect themselves from unwanted/coerced sex, unplanned pregnancy, early childbearing, unsafe abortion, HIV/AIDS, and STIs. This requires full government support in the form of policies, services, programs, and activities that are youth-friendly, rights and evidence-based,
Article 16 (2), Comment No. 37, Art. 16 (2) 24 International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education. 25 International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education. 26 International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education. 27 CEDAW General Recommendation 24, paragraph 12 (b) 28 ASEC & ICEC, The Emergency Contraception Newsletter, Winter 2001/2002; In March 2002, California Governor Gray Davis announced that all HMOs must cover EC for women. ASEC & ICEC, The Emergency Contraception Newsletter, Spring 2002. 29 ICEC Expanding Global Access to Emergency Contraception, at 30.

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confidential, and participatory. 46. Researches have shown that when adolescents are exposed to RH education and know the risks of early and unprotected sex, these adolescents delay the sexual debut, and the number of adolescents engaging in risky sexual behaviors is lessened. With the nature of some adolescents being naturally experimental, however, there will still be adolescents who will engage in risky sexual behavior without their parents knowledge and/or their parents refusing to consent to their access to contraceptives especially since their parents have not benefitted from comprehensive RH education programs in the past. Many will also have the problem of absentee parents with the prevalence of Overseas Filipino Workers. Hence, if we require parental consent for adolescents to avail of contraceptives, we will have the problem of numerous adolescents facing health risks during their childbirth. B.9. Adolescents are Eligible to Use Contraceptives 47. The WHO Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use30 cites the eligibility of adolescents to use contraceptives, as follows: In general, adolescents are eligible to use any method of contraception and must have access to a variety of contraceptive choices. Age alone does not constitute a medical reason for denying any method to adolescents. While some concerns have been expressed regarding the use of certain contraceptive methods in adolescents (e.g. the use of progestogenonly injectables by those below 18 years), these concerns must be balanced against the advantages of avoiding pregnancy. It is clear that many of the same eligibility criteria that apply to older clients apply to young people. However, some conditions (e.g. cardiovascular disorders) that may limit the use of some methods in older women do not generally affect young people, since these conditions are rare in this age group. Social and behavioural issues should be important considerations in the choice of contraceptive methods by adolescents. For example, in some settings, adolescents are also at increased risk for STIs, including HIV. While adolescents may choose to use any one of the contraceptive methods available in their communities, in some cases, using methods that do not require a daily regimen may be more appropriate. Adolescents, married or unmarried, have also been shown to be less tolerant of side-effects and therefore have high discontinuation rates. Method choice may also be
30

WHO, Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, 4th Edition (2009)

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influenced by factors such as sporadic patterns of intercourse and the need to conceal sexual activity and contraceptive use. For instance, sexually active adolescents who are unmarried have very different needs from those who are married and want to postpone, space or limit pregnancy. Expanding the number of method choices offered can lead to improved satisfaction, increased acceptance and increased prevalence of contraceptive use. Proper education and counseling both before and at the time of method selection can help adolescents address their specific problems and make informed and voluntary decisions. Every effort should be made to prevent service and method costs from limiting the options available. 31 II. These religious refusals do not qualify as valid exercise of religious freedom rather they are manifestations of gender-based discrimination used to control women 48. Conscientious objections are over twenty-five years vintage. These are dangerous religious practices that propagate discrimination against women and should be dismissed as such. Discrimination against women must not be allowed to hide under the cloak of religious freedom and conscientious objections and must be viewed as outright gender-based discrimination which, in reality, is being used as a means to control women, perpetuate subordination of women and effectively maintain sexism and patriarchy. 49. Allowing healthcare service providers to conscientiously object is not a valid exercise of freedom of religion because the recognized standard on contraceptives in comparative jurisprudence is the duty of private, religious and public healthcare service providers prevails over their religious beliefs and religious freedom. It is the duty of healthcare service providers to provide information, supplies, and services on contraceptives and to refer services related to contraceptives. 50. Allowing the private and public doctors to refuse to refer is a not a valid exercise of freedom of religion because ones personal beliefs cannot prevail over their professional duty as healthcare service providers to provide medical services because what is being asked is contraceptives and not provision of abortion. In 25-year old United States case of Brownfield v. Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital decided in 1989, the California court ruled that a hospital could be held liable for failing to provide a rape survivor with
31

WHO, Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, 4th Edition (2009)

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information about and access to emergency contraception.32 The court reached this result even though the hospital had a religious affiliation and state law exempted health care facilities with religious affiliations from liability for refusing to perform abortions or refusing to permit the performance of abortions in their facilities.33 The court concluded that this immunity did not apply to the provision of emergency contraception, which is a pregnancy prevention treatment, rather than an abortion.34 51. Conscientious objections were allowed over a decade ago but over the past years there has been a change of standards, policies, and practices where public health prevails over such objections. For all states that ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, what applies is the binding decision of 2001 Pichon and Sajous v. France (App. No. 49853/99) case decided by the European Court of Human Rights where pharmacists cannot refuse to sell or disseminate contraceptives. 52. Allowing healthcare service providers to refuse to refer, conscientiously object, and refuse to perform certain procedures without spousal and parental consent in non-emergency and non-life-threatening situations is dangerous because it gives a license to a group of people to blatantly violate womens human rights in the name of freedom of religion. Let us remember that certain people have likewise been complicit in perpetuating violence against women by denying women their right to divorce their abusive husbands also in the name of religion. Similarly, let us be mindful of people who continue to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people justifying human rights violations also in the name of religion. In 2009, the Honorable Supreme Court judiciously defended the rights of LGBT people maintaining that the Bible and the Quran cannot be used by a secular government agency to deny the LGBT group from participating in the party-list elections in Congress. A. Healthcare service providers who require spousal consent must be penalized 53. During the work of EnGendeRights on the CEDAW Inquiry, there were about 20 poor Tondo women in 2009 who wanted to undergo ligation, however, they were successfully prevented by their husbands to undergo ligation because their husbands threatened to leave them. 54. Allowing healthcare service providers to refuse ligation due to absence spousal consent will pave the way for abusive husbands to continue
32 33

Brownfield v. Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital, 208 Cal. App. 3d 405, 413-14 (1989). Id. 34 Id.

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to abuse and control the health and lives of their wives. Between the so-called marital privacy, the womans right to privacy and right to life and health should prevail. 55. Under Article 5 of CEDAW, states are obligated to eliminate discriminatory traditional values. We call on the members of the Philippine Supreme Court to take up the cudgels for women, remove the shackles that bind women in Philippine law and jurisprudence and champion womens rights. By championing womens rights, the members of this Honorable Court will be remembered as having stood up for womens rights. B. Parental consent 56. Allowing healthcare service providers to refuse adolescent access to contraceptives when there is no parental consent is contrary to the best interest of the child. It is discriminatory against adolescents and would be extremely detrimental in the work of adolescent reproductive health providers in preventing unintended pregnancies and in halting HIV infections. 57. The provision of the law requiring parental consent with the exception of minor parent and miscarriage was already a concession in Congress. Such provision of requiring parental consent restricts adolescents their access to contraceptives and violates the reproductive rights of adolescents. In reality, adolescents are already engaging in sex, many engage in risky sexual behavior by not using any contraceptive method leading to unintended pregnancies and STIs, RTIS, and HIV transmission. 58. By declaring as unconstitutional the provision of Section 7 insofar as they allow minor-parents or minors who have suffered a miscarriage access to modern methods of family planning without consent from their parents or guardian/s is a clear violation of minor adolescent girls reproductive health rights. It is also detrimental to the work of medical providers in decreasing and halting HIV transmissions. 59. The most judicious decision would be not to impose any requirement of parental consent, hence, to declare the provision Provided, That minors will not be allowed access to modern methods of family planning without written consent from their parents or guardians unconstitutional and end the last sentence of Section 7 at No person shall be denied information and access to family planning services, whether natural or artificial. Otherwise, requiring parental consent infringes on the best interest of adolescent minors and their right to equal protection of the law and their right to privacy would be violated. 20

60. Once the restriction on parental consent to access to contraceptives is deleted, the provision on parental consent being needed only for elective procedures under Section 23(a)(2)(ii) would be maintained save for abused children and save for emergency or serious situations. 61. Comparative laws in other jurisdictions, would even go far as disallowing parental consent even in cases for abortion.35 In Planned Parenthood v. Danforth (cited in the separate opinion of Justice Reyes), 428 U.S. 52 (1976), the United States Supreme Court held with respect to the Missouri abortion statute that: the parental consent provision was unconstitutional, since the state (Missouri) did not have the constitutional authority to give a third party an absolute, and possibly arbitrary, veto over the decision of a physician and his patient to terminate the patient's pregnancy, regardless of the reason for withholding the consent. C. Refusal to Refer by Healthcare Service Providers (Section 23(a)(3)) 62. Allowing private and public healthcare service providers to refuse to referregardless of his or her religious beliefs is dangerous because not only has the Court allowed refusal to refer but it went further to add regardless of his or her religious beliefs. This could be subject to frivolous objections to deny referrals subjecting patients to human rights violations and shattering the whole principle behind the necessity of the medical profession and the rationale of an effective and responsive public health system. 63. Allowing skilled health professionals s skilled health professional such as provincial city or municipal health officers, chiefs of hospital, head nurses, supervising midwives, among others, to refuse to refer gravely undermines public health concerns where the paramount duty of doctors is their Hippocratic oath to first do no harm. Allowing such public health providers to refuse to refer is a grave reproductive rights violation. This is detrimental to public health in general.

D. Public Officials 64. The Decision declared as unconstitutional Section 23(b) insofar as they punish any public officer who refuses to support reproductive health
35

Florida decision striking down parental involvement law (on abortion), http://reproductiverights.org/sites/crr.civicactions.net/files/documents/Supreme%20ct%2 0decision_Florida%20parental%20involvement.pdf

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programs or shall do any act that hinders the full implementation of a reproductive health program regardless of his or her religious beliefs. First, these are valid criminal law provisions that are clearly defined. Second, such declaration subjects the RH Law to abuse since violators of acts punishable under these provisions would go scot-free. E. Religious Refusal is against the Findings and Recommendations of Treaty Monitoring Bodies on the Philippines Obligations Provide Access to Modern Contraceptives 65. In 2006, the CEDAW Committee recommended to the Philippines to strengthen measures aimed at the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, including by making a comprehensive range of contraceptives more widely available and without any restriction and by increasing knowledge and awareness about family planning. 66. The CESCR Committee expressed concern in its 2008 Concluding Observations on the Philippines on the inadequate reproductive health services and information, the low rates of contraceptive use and the difficulties in obtaining access to artificial methods of contraception, which contribute to the high rates of teenage pregnancies and maternal deaths in the country. The CESCR Committee urged the Philippines to adopt all appropriate measures to protect the sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls, inter alia, through measures to reduce maternal and infant mortality and to facilitate access to sexual and reproductive health services, including access to family planning, and information. 67. Section 5 of the Magna Carta of Women, on the State as the Primary Duty-Bearer, provides that the State shall keep abreast with and be guided by progressive developments in human rights of women under international law and design of policies, laws, and other measures to promote the objectives of [the Magna Carta]. The Magna of Women clearly shows the obligation of the government to comply with international human rights standards that promote and protect the right to access information and services on modern contraceptives. E.1. Religious Refusal Violates Philippine Obligations to provide adolescents access to contraceptive services 68. It is the duty of the state to provide contraceptive information and services to give an opportunity to educate adolescents on sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS36 and prevention of unwanted pregnancy. Restricting
36

ICEC, Expanding Global Access to Emergency Contraception, at 32.

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access to contraceptives will not prevent adolescent pregnancies but may lead to unplanned pregnancies that put their lives and health at risk. Access to contraceptives help prevent adolescent maternal mortality and morbidity. E.1.a. Religious Refusal Violates the Philippine Obligation under CRC to Provide Access to Contraception and Family Planning to Adolescents 69. Article 24 of CRC recognize(s) the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health.37 In addition, the CRC Committee urged states to provide services to young women, including family planning, contraception x x x, adequate and comprehensive obstetric care and counseling.38 The CRC Committee added that state parties should take measures to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality in adolescent girls, particularly caused by early pregnancy and unsafe abortion practices.39 70. Furthermore, the CRC Committee in its General Comment 3, dealing with HIV and AIDS, lists among the rights guaranteed to children and adolescents, which must be upheld to address HIV/AIDS, sex education and family planning education and services.40 In addition, free or low-cost contraceptive, methods and services are to be provided to adolescents by State parties.41 E.1.b. Religious Refusal Violates the Findings and Recommendations of Treaty Monitoring Bodies on the Philippines on Adolescent Reproductive Health 71. The CEDAW Committee urged the Philippine government in its August 25, 2006 Concluding Comments on the Philippines to strengthen measures aimed at the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, including by making a comprehensive range of contraceptives more widely available and without any restriction and by increasing knowledge and awareness about family planning. 72. In its 2009 Concluding Observations on the Philippines, the CRC Committee expressed serious concern on the inadequate reproductive health services and information, the low rates of contraceptive use (36 per cent of women relied on modern family planning methods in 2006) and the difficulties in obtaining access to artificial methods of contraception, which contribute to the high rates of teenage pregnancies and maternal deaths. The
37 38

The Convention, art. 24. Id. 39 General Comment 4, 31. 40 Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment 3: HIV/AIDS and the Rights of the Child, 6, U.N. Doc. CRC/GC/2003/3 (2003) (hereinafter General Comment 3). 41 Id. at 20.

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CRC Committee expressed concern at the lack of effective measures to promote the reproductive rights of women and girls and that particular beliefs and religious values are preventing their fulfillment. The CRC Committee recommended the urgent adoption of the RH Bill, to ensure access to reproductive health counse[ling] and provide all adolescents with accurate and objective information and culturally sensitive services in order to prevent teenage pregnancies, including by providing wide access to a broad variety of contraceptives without any restrictions and improving knowledge and conscience on family planning, and to strengthen formal and informal sex education, for girls and boys, focusing on the prevention of early pregnancies, STIs and family planning, among other things. III. Humane, Non-judgmental, Compassionate Post-Abortion Care and Need for Certain Exceptions on Access to Safe and Legal Abortion 73. On pages 48 and 51 of the decision, the ponencia equates the ovum with the fetus. With all due respect, equating the ovum with the fetus is contrary to established and definitive medical and scientific findings and even findings of comparative jurisprudence. 74. Saving womens lives should be our priority. The RH Law itself provides humane, non-judgmental, compassionate post-abortion care. 75. Even with RA 8344, the problem, in the past years and until now, is that some medical health providers deny life-saving procedures even in cases of fetal death where therapeutic abortion is needed to save the life of the woman. 76. Expressing negative views on abortion is dangerous because it maintains the status quo where medical providers threaten women with prosecution in cases of fetal death, spontaneous abortion, and self-induced abortion. As a consequence of these threats of prosecution, women end up dying because they delay going to hospitals or do not seek emergency medical care at all. 77. We must put a stop to these denials of humane, non-judgmental, compassionate post-abortion care. We must put a stop to these continued violations of womens rights, otherwise, we will be complicit to these human rights violations. 78. The illegality of abortion with no clear exceptions drives women to self-induce abortion unnecessarily endangering their health and lives. If we want healthcare service providers to provide humane, non-judgment, 24

compassionate post-abortion case, then we should rethink the archaic Philippine law that restricts access to safe and legal abortion and welcome discussion on exceptions in cases of rape, incest, danger to the health and life of the woman, fetal infirmity incompatible with life outside the uterus, among others. 79. The Philippine Constitution is evolving and must heed the call of the times. It must be reviewed in light of our obligations under CEDAW. The criminal law on abortion is an outdated colonial law that violates the rights to health and life of Filipino women. It was a direct translation of the old Spanish Penal Code of 1870s that used to criminalize abortionin the time of the Spanish friars and conquistadores. Without knowing the full consequences of such a harsh and restrictive law, our congress enacted the criminal provision in our Revised Penal Code of 1930. At the time the law was adopted, Filipino women did not even have the right to vote, there was no Universal Declaration of Human Rights and no international human rights treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1976), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1976), CEDAW (1981), Convention Against Torture (CAT, 1987), and Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1990). These came much later. Subjecting women to harm due to lack of access to safe and legal abortion is torture and a violation of our international obligations. CONCLUDING STATEMENT 80. Our rule of law is governed by secular standards, not religious standards. We enjoin the Honorable Supreme Court to uphold womens and adolescent girls rights to equality and non-discrimination.

PRAYER
WHEREFORE, premises considered, respondents-intervenors most respectfully pray that: a) The petition for certiorari, prohibition, injunction and TRO be immediately dismissed with the penal provisions of the RH Law to be declared constitutional; b) Other relief which are just and equitable under the premises be granted. Respectfully submitted, April 26, 2014, Quezon City. 25

Counsels for Intervenors Room 215 Benigno Mayo Hall Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Heights, 1108 Quezon City Email: secretariat@alternativelawgroups.org Telephone No.: (02) 426 85 69 Fax No.: (02) 426 85 69

CLARA RITA A. PADILLA IBP Life Roll No. 00227; 1/17/95; QC PTR No. 9722556B; 4/24/2014 Q.C. Roll No. 39105 MCLE Compliance No. IV-0015364; 4/2/13

MARLON J. MANUEL Roll No. 40046 IBP No. 924878/1-14-13/Bulacan PTR No. 7552145/1-04-13/Quezon City with pending application for MCLE exemption

RAY PAOLO SANTIAGO Roll No. 46470 PTR No. 3682494/ 1-15-13/Mkti IBP Lifetime No. 02962 MCLE Exemption No. IV-001170, May 14, 2013

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CLAIRE ANGELINE P. LUCZON Roll #44505 IBP # 949956 03 Jan 14 / Cagayan Valley PTR # 5222311 / 22 April 14 / Aparri, Cagayan MCLE Compliance # V-0021609 / 05 Aug 2013 #74-A Naranghita Street, Project 2, Quezon City 1102 Telephone #: 8619610 Email: claireapl@gmail.com

ARNOLD FELICIANO DE VERA IBP # 908923 PTR # 7613412, QC, Jan 8, 2013 MCLE Compliance No. IV-0011383, Pasig, Jan. 10, 2013

COPY FURNISHED: Atty James M. 1m bong and Jo Aurea M. lmbong lmbong and Castro Law Offices Counsel for Petitioners/ G.R. No. 204819 Unit 304 Senor Ivan de Palacio Building 139 Malakas St., Diliman, Quezon City Atty. Maria Concepcion S. Noche Counsel for Petitioners/G.R. No. 204934 MCS NOCHE LAW OFFICE 91 Melchor Street, Loyola Heights, Quezon City Atty. Makilito B. Mahinay Counsel for Petitioners/G.R. No. 204957 Diamond St., cor. Jade St., Francisca Village 6th St., Happy Valley, Cebu City Attys. Earl Anthony C. Gambe and Marion I. Yap Counsel for Petitioners in G.R. No. 204988 Gambe and Yap Law Offices Mandumol, Upper Macasandig,Cagayan de Oro City Atty. Expedito A. Bugarin, Jr. Petitioner in G.R. No. 205003 No. 19 Country Club Village, Banilad, Cebu City Atty. Noel A. Clemente Counsel for Petitioner in G.R. No. 205043 Penthouse, Aurora Milestone Tower 1045 Aurora Blvd., Quezon City 27

Atty. Ricardo M. Ribo Counsel for Petitioners PAX in G.R. No. 205138 Rm. 206 Reza Building, 1318 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City Attys. Howard M. Calleja and Ramon Andre F. Cedro Counsel for Petitioners in G.R. No. 205478 Unit 1903-A, West Tower, PSE Centre Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, 1605 Pasig City Atty. Alan F. Paguia Counsel for Petitioners in G.R. No. 205491 Unit 412 Corporate 101 Building 101 Mother lgnacia St., Barangay South Triangle, 1103 Quezon City Attys. Rufino L. Policarpio Ill, Cristina A. Montes, and Jeremy I. Gatdula Counsel for Petitioners in G.R. No. 205720 Policarpio and Acorda Law Office 903 Richmonde Plaza, San Miguel Ave. cor. Lourdes Drive, Ortigas Center, 1605 Pasig City Atty. Samson S. Alcantara Petitioner-in-Intervention March 19, 2013 Suite 1402, 14th Fir., Manila Astral Tower Taft Avenue cor. P. Faura St., Ermita, Manila Solicitor General Francis H. Jardeleza Office of the Solicitor General 134 Amorsolo St., Legaspi Village, 1229 Makati City His Excellency Benigno Simeon C. Aquino Ill Office of the President, Malacanang Palace, Manila Senate of the Philippines c/o Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile GSIS Building, Financial Center, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City House of Representatives c/o Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. Batasan Bldg., Batasan Hills Diliman, Quezon City Hon. Paquito N. Ochoa, Jr. Executive Secretary 28

Premier Guest House, Malacanang , J.P. Laurel Sr. St., Manila Secretary Florencio B. Abad Department of Budget and Management Gen. Solano St., San1'v1iguei,Manila Secretary Enrique T. Ona M.D. Department of Health San Lazaro Compound, Sta. Cruz, Manila Secretary Armin A. Luistro, FSC Department of Education DepED Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) EDSA cor. Mapagmahal St., Diliman, Quezon City Secretary Corazon Soliman Department of Social Welfare and Development Constitution Hills, Diliman, Quezon City Hon. Arsenio M. Balisacan Socio-Economic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director General, 12 Saint Josemaria Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Philippine Commission on Women c/o Chairperson Remedios lgnacio-Rikken 1145 J.P. Laurel St., San Miguel, Manila Philippine Health Insurance Corporation c/o President Eduardo Banzon Citystate Centre, 709 Shaw Blvd., 1603 Pasig City League of Cities of the Philippines c/o President Oscar Rodriguez Jlh Fir., Unit J & K,CyberOne Building Eastwood Barangay Bagumbayan, Quezon City League of Municipalities of the Philippines c/o President Donato Marcos 2"d Fir., LMP Building, 265 Ermin Garcia St., Cubao, Quezon City Hon. Suzette H. Lazo 29

Food and Drugs Administration Civic Drive, Filinvest Corporate City Alabang. 1781 Muntinlupa City League of Provinces of the Philippines c/o President Alfonso Umali Unit 1510 West Tower, Philippine Stock Exchange Center Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Attys. Ibarra M. Gutierrez Ill & Juan Alfonso P. Torrevillas Counsel for Intervenors Ana Theresia "Risa" Hontiveros et al. No. 36-B MadasaUn St., Brgy. Sikatuna Diliman, Quezon City

EXPLANATION OF SERVICE BY REGISTERED MAIL Due to the number of the parties involved in the case, the distances between the office of the counsels for the herein Respondents-Intervenors, and the respective offices of the other counsels of record, and the lack of adequate messengerial services to effect personal service, copies of this pleading were served on the other parties by registered mail. Consistent with the intent of the Efficient Use of Paper Rule, all public respondents are served a copy of this pleading through the Honorable Solicitor General while all petitioners are served a copy of this pleading through Atty. Maria Concepcion S. Noche of MCS Noche Law Office.

ATTY. CLARA RITA A. PADILLA

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