by Jojo Malig, ABS-CBNNews.com
Posted at 12/17/2012 6:17 PM | Updated as of 12/17/2012 8:18 PM
MANILA, Philippines (6th UPDATE) - The Senate and the lower House approved the reproductive health (RH) bill on 3rd and final reading Monday.
The lower House version of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Edcel Lagman, was first approved 133-79, with 7 abstentions.
The vote was made quickly, with 199 representatives present.
It passed by a higher margin of 54 votes on 3rd reading, in contrast to the close 113-104 vote on 2nd reading.
Some lawmakers made it to the plenary session to cast their votes despite being ill or having important matters to attend to.
Rep. Miro Quimbo, who voted in favor of the measure, attended the session despite being ill with dengue.
Quimbo, on a wheelchair, was accompanied by a doctor who held up his dextrose bag.
"Para sa bayan, I vote yes," he said when his name was called.
"Can't breathe well. Nursing a cold and headache. I almost screamed inside the plane bcoz of the pressure. But must go to Batasan," Negros Occidental Rep. Mercedes Alvarez said earlier in the day.
Those who voted no include party-list Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo and Rep. Mitos Magsaysay.
"Mr. Speaker, this practicing Roman Catholic will always vote no," Arroyo said.
"I just voted NO!" Magsaysay said on Twitter.
House Speaker Sonny Belmonte Jr. and Rep. Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada III, who was the presiding officer in the 2nd reading, voted in favor of the measure in the final reading.
Senate nod
The Senate, meanwhile, approved it 13-8, on 2nd and 3rd reading.
The bill, sponsored by Senators Pia Cayetano and Miriam Defensor Santiago, immediately went to 3rd reading after the 2nd reading because President Benigno Aquino certified it as urgent.
The bicameral conference committee will get both versions of the bill for consolidation before the President signs it into law.
The Senate vote was made after the upper House tackled amendments proposed by Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto III.
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