August is Breastfeeding Month

One of the things I remember about putting together the August issue is the word "breastfeeding." It got so overused that I could type it while wearing a blindfold and not make a single mistake (this is a big thing, considering I never learned to type properly).

Almost all our articles in here has something to do with breastfeeding--who knew we could cover so many stories on one topic? Not only is breastfeeding healthy for the mother and the child, it also encourages so many women to do something for their community.

For my story "It takes a village" I found out just how many moms go out of their comfort zone to spread the word about breastfeeding. They donate milk, wet-nurse, counsel, and get their husbands to willingly support their advocacy. Ines Fernandez of Arugaan even created (of course with the help of other Arugaan moms) a daycare--called a Creche--so that mothers could be taught to care and nurture their babies in the most natural way possible.


On a more glamorous angle, we also covered moms who make breastfeeding in public a more modest affair. Stylish nursing wear, nursing bibs and baby slings allow mothers to breastfeed discreetly--the blouses have secret holes in them so moms could feed their baby without fumbling.

Here's a sample of the 6-page fashion spread we put together. Our Editor-in-Chief Diana Uichanco got the idea of putting models against a cartoon background from a fashion spread of a magazine she used to read...but of course, we worked hard to make it better than the original (which was no easy feat!). As one of our mommy models put it, it's so easy to read but it takes so long to put together!

Our photographer for this is Harvey Tapan. The three brands we featured are Bosom Buddy, Blissful Babes and Procreation. The one who did the illustrated backgrounds is Natasha Bautista, my talented sister!

I learned so many things in this issue, and I hope many moms would too. The cover baby, by the way, is Anya Dominique R. Bautista, who is smiling for photographer George Cabig's camera.

Baby Magazine is published by Marathon Publishing, Inc., and is available in National Bookstore and SM Baby Co. stores nationwide. Enjoy!

From the Rebel Without a Clue

Found Patricia Evangelista's Rebel Without a Clue column wanting last Sunday, and yes it took a lot of digestion before I figured it's time to write a reaction--and the sooner the better, too.

The column talks about the Reproductive Health Bill that the Church and Pro-Life groups are fighting against. Of course, the pushers of this bill assert that it is anti-abortion; they propose contraceptives and artificial family planning as solutions for overpopulation. As Evangelista writes: The reproductive health bill currently being debated in Congress is adamantly anti-abortion, and seeks to provide citizens with the means to access contraceptives and the necessary information to prevent—and not terminate—pregnancy.

So, sure, the bill tries to solve the illegal abortion problem--and at the same time overpopulation too--by making contraceptives available. Simple solution, right?

Er, not exactly. When you think about what contraception encourages, do you actually think abortions would decrease? Contraception is not perfect (not to mention it is bad for the health in more cases than one). More likely, it will increase abortions. (As to overpopulation, it's a myth!)

Actually, it's easy to forget that the pro-life fight involves more than abortion: it's because the pro-life movement is more vocal about abortion--the pre-born cannot defend themselves. But fighting for life entails fighting against a bigger adversary. Along with abortion, you're saying no to everything that goes against life--and that includes the mindset promoted by pro-abortion groups: "It's ok as long as you don't get pregnant."

Evangelista wonders why contraception is wrong, after all, she points out, it's not killing: It demands great logical leaps to call a condom a murder weapon. It presumes that a sperm and an egg that haven’t yet made acquaintance are essentially living human beings. Following the Church’s logic, anything that prevents the creation of a child is wholesale murder. It allows several rather startling conclusions, which includes the punishment of millions of murderous adolescent boys the world over for masturbation, and the sanctioning of fertile married couples who themselves decide not to have children. It also makes the Church itself responsible for encouraging the wholesale genocide of millions of possible citizens by promoting natural family planning after marriage. The goal of the rhythm method, after all, and all other methods taught in Catholic high schools, is the prevention of unwanted births during marriage.

I agree that the sperm and the egg by themselves are not a human being. However, to accuse the Church of believing that killing sperm- and egg-cells is "wholesale murder" is taking it too far. Contraception is fought against for very good reasons. As for the rhythm method, also known as Natural Family Planning-Responsible Parenting (NFP-RP), its goal is not to prevent conception but to teach couples how to be responsible parents. How? Without artificial implements to keep pregnancy from occurring, the husband and wife engage in the marital act knowing that they have the capability to procreate, and with that knowledge, they agree they'll raise the child if they are gifted with one.

Wow this has gotten heavy! I just wanted to clarify some stuff.

If you finish reading the article, you'll see that the columnist eventually criticizes the president, but she gets to this only after making the Church look like an irrational extremist. I've met Patricia Evangelista in class; she's smart and a good writer. But this piece would not be the best she's ever written. :-(

We're turning heads, people!

Today is the SONA and I wonder how the President will explain her stand on the Reproductive Health Bill, if she will at all. For those who don't know, President Arroyo has rejected the bill (hooray!). But we're going to keep making noise because as long as they're still pushing it, the war's not over.

Sifting through today's news of storms, rallies and transport strikes, I found a news snippet (emailed to me, again by sunnyday--thanks!) from American Life League that talks about what's going on over here. Kudos to our bishops and Pro-Life supporters--we're now making news on the other side of the world, too!

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Asia's Catholic Country Crusades Against Abortion, Contraception Push

Washington, DC (23 July 2008) – In a move that is capturing the attention of the pro-life world, Catholic bishops in the Philippines are leading massive resistance to the "culture of death" by holding a nationwide rally July 25. The Church-led movement is swiftly gaining momentum to fight a bill that would usher in birth control, sex education and, eventually, abortion in the Philippines.

"This is inspiring," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League. "These bishops are leading Catholics in a crusade that will mean life or death for millions of people. May their fight ignite our American bishops to take up their staffs to fight the evil – the abortive assault on children and families – that permeates our world."

On the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical "Humanae Vitae," which condemned artificial birth control, Filipino priests, nuns, seminarians and laity will rally en masse against the Reproductive Health and Population Development Act of 2008.

The legislation would create a new agency called the Commission on Population, which would institutionalize artificial birth control, implement sex education for students as early as the fifth grade and pave the way for legalized abortion.

The rally is the latest strike against the population-control legislation in a country that is 85 percent Catholic. Bishops are denying the Eucharist to politicians who favor the anti-life legislation as well as advising voters that a politician's stance on population control should form the basis of their voting decisions.

The executive director of the Filipino bishops' Commission for Family and Life, Fr. Melvin Castro, stated that the bill, if passed, would promote "laxity of morality" and the "culture of death" in the Philippines, according to Life Site News.

American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death. For more information or media inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.

I will remember your names

...so I won't have to vote for you later on.

Pushers of the Reproductive Health Bill are really getting noisy, and nowadays there's a daily story on the front page about the great debate. Needless to say, most of the stuff I've read are tainted with the bias that the Catholic stand on this mess is old-fashioned BS, like this one:


"Many predominantly Catholic countries around the world allow access to modern contraceptives, emergency contraception and even safe and legal abortion. The state of Philippine law on reproductive rights is blind adherence to our Spanish colonial past," [Rita Padilla of EnGendeRights] said. (from PDI)

So what? Do we copy these "many predominantly Catholic countries" just because it's the "in" thing? And is there such a thing as "safe abortion"? Oh, sweet sorrow, what an oxymoron!

The authors of this bill--I know who you are because I've been reading!--are so sure that what they're promoting is perfectly fine because it does not legalize abortion. Here's news for you: abortion is just one part of the Life we're all fighting for. Sure, the bill doesn't legalize abortion, but it is permissive of all other forms of death: contraceptives and abortifacients...and the culture they bring with them.

When you use contraceptives you throw responsibility out the window--think of what that implies. Where does family fit in all this? Parenthood? Marriage?

And who says we're overpopulated? Last I checked, there is actually a birth dearth. If it's poverty you're trying to solve, look at the countries that have adopted these "solutions." Poverty is not solved by cutting down on people.

Which is why, despite the bad rap she's getting, and the corruption and all, President Arroyo did the right thing when she rejected the Reproductive Health Bill. Crack those she-was-afraid-the-priests-would-snub-her jokes all you want--it doesn't change the fact that SHE'S RIGHT THIS TIME AROUND.

So, good luck, authors, in the next election. There are a lot more people who know what you're pushing, and are smarter than you think.

Good to be reminded...

This article is from LifeSiteNews.com. :-)

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Pope to World Youth Day: "The Womb - Has Become A Place of Unutterable Violence"

By John-Henry Westen

SYDNEY, July 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews. com) - In his address to the hundreds of thousands of youth who welcomed him at Barangaroo, Sydney Harbour today, Pope Benedict XVI issued one of the strongest challenges he has yet made to work for the right to life of unborn children. "How can it be that the most wondrous and sacred human space - the womb - has become a place of unutterable violence?" he said.

During his address to the young people, the Holy Father remarked on the natural beauty of Australia, leading into a short discourse on the need to be good stewards of the environment - an issue the younger generations have vigorously been schooled in. The Pope then turned his greater attention to the "social environment," urging the youth to care for this environment, which is created by man and which the Pope noted is "the apex of God's creation."

"Perhaps reluctantly we come to acknowledge," he said, "that there are also scars which mark the surface of our earth: erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world's mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption." He then continued: "And we discover that not only the natural but also the social environment - the habitat we fashion for ourselves - has its scars; wounds indicating that something is amiss."

He noted problems, such as "alcohol and drug abuse, and the exaltation of violence and sexual degradation, often presented through television and the internet as entertainment."

The Holy Father returned to the theme of the "social environment" in the powerful conclusion to his remarks. He said: "But what of our social environment? Are we equally alert to the signs of turning our back on the moral structure with which God has endowed humanity? Do we recognize that the innate dignity of every individual rests on his or her deepest identity - as image of the Creator - and therefore that human rights are universal, based on the natural law, and not something dependent upon negotiation or patronage, let alone compromise?"

In the end, Pope Benedict offered a summary statement, which cuts to the heart of the liberal vs. faithful Catholic debate. While left-leaning Catholics do concern themselves with important 'social justice' issues, they eschew or minimize fighting for the right to life of the unborn, equating abortion with unemployment, poverty or environmentally damaging mining practices. Faithful Catholics, however, while recognizing the importance of caring for the poor, the environment and peace, understand that the right to life is preeminent.

"The concerns for non-violence, sustainable development, justice and peace, and care for our environment are of vital importance for humanity. They cannot, however, be understood apart from a profound reflection upon the innate dignity of every human life from conception to natural death: a dignity conferred by God himself and thus inviolable," he said.

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Got the tip from sunnyday ;)

Stormy weather

I tuned in to "Lakay" Deo Macalma and "Pangga" Ruth Abao's AM radio program, DZRH Hataw this morning because of the storm, and I must say there's a bigger storm than Helen that's making a scene in the radio waves.

Lakay and Pangga were discussing artificial family planning; specifically, they were roaring about the Church's "extreme" view of birth control. They claimed it's unfair that the Church does not let people who use contraceptives to take Holy Communion. Pangga asserted that contraception is not abortion anyway, and that there's no worse feeling for a woman than to go through a pregnancy she did not plan. Lakay joked that he should text Pope Benedict XIV to plead that the Philippines is so overpopulated and by all means contraception is the only answer....

Makes me wonder where these media peeps get their information. What's so extreme about the Church's stand on contraception? In fact, the reasoning is so simple: the Church upholds marriage, an institution rooted in real love and made for the purpose of procreation. Contraception defeats the purpose of marriage (not to mention propagates a different culture altogether); hence, the Church is against it.

Regarding contraception being "not abortion anyway," that's true--to some shallow extent--because they're really not the same thing. That said, however, both do promote a culture of sexual freedom outside of marriage.

What makes contraceptives and abortion so different when their end is the same? They both blur significantly the line the separates love from lust because they represent a culture that believes sex is good but the natural outcome should never! ever! happen.

Which brings to mind the woman and the unplanned pregnancy. It happens--even within the family set-up, even with natural family planning. But babies are always a gift--planned or not. It's only the propagators of contraception and abortion that assert that babies are punishments. After all, they thrive on destroying life.

It's sad to listen to people whom you know have good reputations for their work in the media spurt nonsense and assumptions carelessly. Of course, they have the right to express what they think. But my problem with this particular episode was that it seemed like Lakay and Pangga took the issue too lightly, as if all our problems would be solved by one masterstroke: giving the go on artificial family planning.

The First Philippine Puppetry Festival

Witness the 1st Philippine Puppetry Festival from August 13 to 15 in celebration of the Buwan ng Wika. The festival features the pioneers in Philippine puppetry namely -- Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas, Black Theater of Manila, Tali Galaw, Roppets Edutainment, ANINO Shadowplay Collective and Ony Carcamo. Learn about the different types of puppets (rod, string, hand, and
shadow puppets, black theater, and ventriloquism) when you watch their 10 am or 1:30 pm shows at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute, Cultural Center of the Philippines. For details call, Samahan ng mga Papetir ng Pilipinas, 439-14-71; Cultural Center of the Philippines, 832-1125, or e-mail papetir@gmail.com.

Aug. 13: Black Theater of Manila & Ony Carcamo
Aug. 14: ANINO Shadowplay Collective & Roppets Edutainment
Aug. 15: Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas & Tali Galaw