REVISITING THE PHILIPPINE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH POLITICS VIA THE LENS OF PUBLIC THEOLOGY: THE ROLE OF PROGRESSIVE CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT SECTOR

Abstract

Being a traditionally religious country, the role of religion in Philippine politics is quite neglected as scholars are used to frame religious actors based on either interest group politics or theological interpretations. This paper employs a new approach called public theology. Using the Reproductive Health Debate from 2010 – 1012 as a case to analyze, the public theology approach fleshes out a marginalized religious sector who became influential in reshaping the religiopolitical discourse about the morality of a politician voting in favor of the Reproductive Health Bill. This marginalized sector, the progressive religious leaders both from Catholic and Protestant, tradition is influential for providing an alternative moral criterion which served as an opportunity for the President and Congress members to defy the moral and political threat posed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.