ffii*rs Insight
22,2oLs
Repeal of ,archirc' provision of Revised Penal Code eyed
BY WEI{DELL VIGILI,A
THE principal authot of the
reproductive health law Yester-
bill seeking to rePeal
dav 6led a
the "archaic" Piovision of the
Revised Penal Code, which Pun-
ishes those who offend "religious
feelings."
Albay Rep. Edcel C Lagman. a
member of the oPPosition. liled
House Bill No. 5170 rePealing Ar-
ticle 1 33 of the RPC in memory of
Catlos Celdran, a fellow teProduc-
tive health fi.H) advocate.
Article 133 states that "the
of arresto maYot in its
penalty
maximum period to Prision correc
tional in its minimum Period shall
be imposed uPon anYone who, in a
I ilfWS ruesday, *0"r.
olace devoted to religrous worship
or dtuine rhe celebratioo of anY
reliqious'cetemony, shall perform
,.ri notoriouslv offensive to tlle
feelines of ttt. i;*tru."
LaJaan said Celdtan, an activ-
ist, "iied a free man" because-the
Suoreme Court failed to resolve
rvith finaliw his motion for tecon
of
sideration on his conviction
"wounding religious feelings."
"Tr is now incumbent orr the
Consress to accord lustice aod
redrJss to Celdran bY rePealing
Article 133 vrhich is 'an odious
rcmnant of the Datk Ages' and
'offensive to the freedom of ex-
pression,"'he said.
Celdran died of a heatt attack
in Madrid last October 8. He had
been charsed with violating At-
ticle 133 o'n "offending retigious
feeLings."
In Seotember 2010, Celdran
dressed'as heto Jose fuzat and
rvalked towards the main altat of
the Manila Cathedral in Intia'rnu-
tos, wlrerc an ecumenical setvice
.xas being held on the ioint disui-
bution of bibles bY Catholic and
Protestant leaders.
It was at the height of the cam-
paiqn for rhe enactment of the RH
L f now Republic Act No 10354.
Celdtan raised a Placard with
tlle name "Damaso," in refelence
to the villainous ftiar from Rizal's
novel Noli Me Tangete.
"It was a clear Political state-
ment that unlike Padte Damaso,
rhe Catholic hierarchY must flot
interfele ifl secular affairs like
preventing the Passage of the
ieotoductive health bill even as
Protestant bishoPs did not oPPose
the measure," he said. ,
Lagnan said Article tJ3 is "ut-
tedy subjective and leaves to the
undue discretron of the court to
divine the inculpatoty element of
'wounded reliqious feelings."
"It is an amorPhous offense and
fails to set anv obiective standards
on tha grut u-ar, of the crime,"
Lagrnan said.
iagman stressed that rhe rePeal
of Article 133 will prevent slrnral
"orosecutions and travails of well_
,ieanins critics which Cel&an un-
justi6abiy suffered aod endured "
e+s F?