Still Waters
mavila@theguidon.com

With numerous papers and articles on HB 5403–better known as the Reproductive Health (RH) bill– appearing lately, one can’t help but wonder whether people are overwhelmed by the influx of information. I can’t speak for all of my peers, but reading through each and every article written about the issue seems quite a daunting task.

Living in an era of ever-evolving multimedia, the youth of today are less likely to read papers and are more attracted to creative ways of being informed. A perfect example of this is the “RH Rocks!” concert held recently, an event which aimed to promote awareness and support of HB 5403.

Organized by the Reproductive Health Advocacy Network and the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development, “RH Rocks!” was a free concert held December 9 at Liwasang Aurora, Quezon City Memorial Circle. Bands like Sandwich, Sugarfree, Imago, Itchyworms, and Pedicab performed in support of the night’s theme “RH is a Human Right.”

On one hand, conducting a free concert to get the attention of the youth regarding the population issue is a bright idea. The concert attempted to inform the young audience about the RH bill, making sure to keep their attention by entertaining them at the same time.

On the other hand, the means with which the event was executed fell short. In fact, there wasn’t much information discussed during the concert. Though videos were played showing RH bill advocates, there seemed to be more focus on the bands performing. The crowd began to be more and more unruly and started thrashing around in a makeshift mosh pit.

At a certain point during the event, someone on stage asked the audience if any of them were teenage girls. He then enthusiastically yelled out, “Gusto niyo bang mabuntis ng maaga (Would you like to get pregnant early)?” The question was met with two kinds of answers, instead of a united “No.” For a concert that supposedly seeks the passage of a bill on family planning, it seemed questionable that this was the kind of audience that it managed to gather.

Granted, those who answered yes to an early pregnancy were probably caught up in the heat of the moment.

But maybe it was also the way the question was asked that generated this kind of reaction. What was supposed to be a threatening question about early pregnancy turned into a mere query, and yelled in an encouraging manner, at that.

Instead of informing the audience, the event ended up giving a very limited view of the topic. In the end, all it was was a free concert, and people might have already forgotten about the event’s advocacy in the first place.

Of course, there’s only so much one can say during a concert. But simplifying the issue to video presentations of celebrities supporting the RH bill and rather inappropriate questions to the crowd defeats the event’s objective. The balance between entertainment and information wasn’t met, and instead of generating awareness, the event might have even distorted the audience’s view on reproductive health.

Disappointing, really, because the premise of the concert was so promising. Filipino youth would have learned more about the issue, and might have been encouraged to finally take a stand on being pro or against the bill.

Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to happen. If all advocacy events turned out like this, I think I’d stick to reading academic papers.