Beijing's South China Sea claims invalid: tribunal

Yahoo – AFP, July 13, 2016

Beijing raises rhetoric ahead of South China Sea ruling

Beijing (AFP) - Beijing's claims to a vast swathe of the South China Sea are invalid, an international tribunal ruled Tuesday, dealing a devastating diplomatic blow to its ambitions in one of the world's most important flashpoints.

China, which boycotted the proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, rejected the ruling, calling it "null and void".

But analysts said it was a "huge win" for the Philippines, which brought the case.

The resource-rich, strategically vital waters of the South China Sea are disputed between the Asian giant -- which claims almost all of them on the basis of a "nine-dash line" that first appeared on Chinese maps in the 1940s -- and several other countries including the Philippines.

The row has embroiled the United States, which has deployed aircraft carriers and a host of other vessels to assert freedom of navigation in waters through which one-third of the global oil trade passes.

China says that its fishermen have visited the area for centuries, but the PCA tribunal said that under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Beijing had not had exclusive control of it.

Any historic rights were "extinguished" when it signed up to UNCLOS, it said, and there was "no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the 'nine-dash line'," it said.

Crucially, it ruled that none of the Spratlys, a chain of outcrops in the south of the sea, were "islands" under the meaning of UNCLOS, meaning that whoever had sovereignty over them -- an issue it did not address -- they were not entitled to 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of their own.

'Branded as an outlaw'

Some sea areas were therefore definitely in the Philippines' EEZ, it said, as they were "not overlapped by any possible entitlement of China".

China had violated the Philippines' sovereign rights in its EEZ and the artificial islands Beijing has been furiously building in recent years -- reshaping facts in the water in an effort to bolster its claim -- have inflicted severe environmental damage, it added.

The damning decision was "as unfavourable to China as it can be", said Yanmei Xie, China analyst for the International Crisis Group.

The award by the five-member panel -- chaired by a Ghanaian -- "overwhelmingly favours the Philippines -- a huge win," said M. Taylor Fravel of MIT.

Manila welcomed the decision but Beijing reacted furiously, saying it "neither accepts nor recognises" the ruling.

"The award is null and void and has no binding force," China's foreign ministry said on its website, reiterating its territorial claims.

The official news agency Xinhua cited President Xi Jinping as saying the islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times, and Beijing will not accept any action based on the decision.

China has consistently said the tribunal does not have jurisdiction on the issue -- declaring the support of multiple countries for its stance, many of them poor but with significant trading relationships with it -- and Xinhua reported the ruling under the headline: "Law-abusing tribunal issues ill-founded award".

In Washington, the State Department said the ruling was an "important contribution" to resolving regional disputes and should be seen as "final and legally binding".

China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and has been seeking a greater role on the global diplomatic stage, and will not want to be seen as a violator of international law.

But how the decision could be enforced remains open to question. Richard Heydarian, a political analyst at De La Salle University in Manila, told AFP: "China has been branded as an outlaw in unequivocal terms. US, Japan and other major powers should now focus on enforcing this binding verdict if China fails to comply."

In the short term, the decision was likely to escalate the "war of words" but would not immediately change the geopolitical dynamics in the sea, said Xie of the International Crisis Group.

"We?re going to see a continuation of the chest thumping we've seen, especially from the China side."

'Tough reaction'

Beijing has held naval drills between the Paracels and the southern Chinese island of Hainan in recent days, while US Pacific Command said on Twitter that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan had launched flight operations to support "security, stability" in the South China Sea.

Bonnie Glaser of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies told AFP: "I expect a very tough reaction from China since it has lost on almost every point."

China could choose to withdraw from UNCLOS, or begin building on Scarborough Shoal, which it seized from the Philippines in 2012 -- which Washington would view as a provocation.

Beijing could also declare an air defence identification zone over the South China Sea, claiming the right to interrogate aircraft passing through the airspace, or try to remove a ship grounded by Manila on Second Thomas Shoal for use as a base.

Xu Tiebing, international relations professor at Communication University of China, told AFP that Chinese would see the PCA decision as evidence of international opposition to their country.

"These international organisations were not absolutely neutral, and in fact they are still subject to the manipulation and influence of big powers," he said.

The Philippines, which had lodged the suit in 2013, welcomed the "milestone decision", and foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay said: "We call on all those concerned to exercise restraint and sobriety."

Nationalist demonstrations are not rare in China, sometimes apparently with the tacit backing of authorities, and the Philippine embassy in Beijing has warned its citizens to beware of personal "threats".

Chinese police sealed off the street where the mission stands.

pic.twitter.com/0Wk3BFnZkD

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 12, 2016

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China calls for peaceful settlement of maritime disputes

Nike axes Pacquiao over gay slurs - official

Yahoo – AFP, 17 February 2016

Philippine boxing icon Manny Pacquiao (C) works out with fellow boxers during a 

training session at a sports complex in General Santos on the southern Philippine

island of Mindanao on February 16, 2016 (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)

US sports equipment giant Nike on Wednesday axed Manny Pacquiao after he described gay couples as "worse than animals", slamming the Filipino boxer's remarks as "abhorrent."

A Nike statement said the company had severed its ties with Pacquiao, who triggered a firestorm of controversy with his comments to a Filipino broadcaster earlier this week.

"We find Manny Pacquiao's comments abhorrent," a Nike statement said.

"Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT community... we no longer have a relationship with Manny Pacquiao."

Devout Christian Pacquiao, 37, had issued an apology soon after the controversy erupted.

"I'm sorry for comparing homosexuals to animals. Please forgive me for those I've hurt," Pacquiao said in a video post on Instagram, his arms crossed.

Pacquiao, who is running for a seat in his country's Senate, said he was not condemning homosexuals but was standing by his conservative Christian faith.

"I love you all with the love of the Lord. I am praying for you."

Pacquiao told television station TV5 earlier this week: "It's common sense. Do you see animals mating with the same sex? Animals are better because they can distinguish male from female."

Boxer Manny Pacquiao appears on stage and points to his NIKE shoes during the 

official weigh-in for his bout against Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand 

Garden Arena November 11, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada (AFP Photo/Ethan Miller)

"If men mate with men and women mate with women, they are worse than animals."

Pacquiao's comments were greeted with revulsion in the United States, where same-sex marriage is enshrined in law following a historic Supreme Court ruling.

Jason Collins, the first openly gay athlete in the NBA, dismissed Pacquiao as "bigoted."

"I lost all respect for you," Collins wrote on Twitter. "Bigoted people like you (& yes you are one) should never hold an office in politics."

Pacquiao's long-time rival Floyd Mayweather -- who outclassed the Filipino in their money-spinning mega-fight last year -- also took aim at the remarks.

"We should let people live their lives the way they want to live their lives. To each his own," Mayweather was quoted by TMZ Sports as saying.

Gay marriage is outlawed in the Philippines due to strong opposition from the Catholic Church and 80 percent of the country's 100 million people subscribe to the faith.

Gay marriages are officiated at small churches but are not recognised by the mainstream church or the state.

Pacquiao's remarks angered some of his compatriots, with the country's most popular gay comedian, Vice Ganda, urging his 6.7 million Twitter followers to "#PrayForMannyPacquiao".

"Some people think they can judge people, like God, just because they've attended a prayer meeting and read the Bible," he said.

Singer Aiza Seguerra, who recently married her actress-girlfriend, called on Filipino voters to boycott Pacquiao, who is also preparing for his last boxing fight in April, calling him an "ignorant, bigoted hypocrite".

"You might have done our country proud but with your statement, you just showed the whole country why we shouldn't vote for you," Seguerra said in a post on Instagram.

Related Articles:

Philippines' Pacquiao apologises for comparing gays to animals

Pope Francis: Who am I to judge gay people?

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon: Regarding homosexuality or transsexuals. WHY are they the way they are and WHY are they not accepted in mainstream society?

Answer: [From the Kryon Office]

There is often a tremendous amount of information on subjects that are not necessarily part of the on-line magazine Q&A database. Kryon has been channelling for fourteen years, with 9 books covering many, many topics. Homosexuality was one of them from the very beginning. Please see our "Books index page" for subjects contained in the Kryon books: [http://www.kryon.com/direct.html]

An excerpt from Kryon Book 6, page 306

Question from the book: Dear Kryon, I am gay, and an enlightened man. I live in an American society that barely tolerates me, and actually has some laws against my way of life. The church I used to belong to cast me out as being evil and anti-God. I don't feel that I am violating some Human ethic. My love is as true as any heterosexual, and I am a light worker. Tell me what I should know.

Answer from the book: Dear one, less than two generations from now, there will be those who find this book and laugh at the quaintness of this very question. Before I answer, let me ask you and those reading this to examine a phenomenon about Human society and "God."

Thirty years ago, interracial marriage was considered to be wrong by the laws of God. Now your society finds it common. The spiritual objections around it were either dropped or "rewritten" by those divinely inspired and authorized to do so. Therefore, your actual interpretations of the instructions from God changed with your society's tolerance level--an interesting thing, indeed, how the interpretations of God seem to change regularly to match a changing culture!

The truth, of course, is that you find yourself in a situation that is known to create a test for you. Right now, in this time, you have agreed to come into your culture with an attribute that may alienate you from friends and religious followers. You have faced fear of rejection and have had to "swim upstream," so to speak, just as an everyday life occurrence. Your contract, therefore, has been set up well, and you are in the middle of it. Additionally, like so many like you, you have a divine interest in yourselves! You feel part of the spiritual family. What a dichotomy indeed, to be judged as evil by those who are the high spiritual leaders--interpreting God for today's culture.

Now I say this: What is your intent? Is it to walk with love for all those around you and become an enlightened Human Being in this New Age? Is it to forgive those who see you as a spiritual blight on society? Can you have the kind of tolerance for them that they seem not to have for you? Can you overlook the fact that they freely quote their scriptures in order to condemn you, yet they don't seem to have the love tolerance that is the cornerstone of their own message?

If the answer is yes, then there is nothing else you must do. Your INTENT is everything, and your life will be honored with peace over those who would cause unrest, and tolerance for the intolerable. Your sexual attributes are simply chemistry and setups within your DNA. They are given by agreement as gifts for you to experience in this life. Look on them in this fashion, and be comfortable with that fact that you are a perfect spiritual creation under God--loved beyond measure--just like all humans. But then you know that, don't you?

"The Akashic Circle" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)  - (Text version)

“… Gender Switching

Old souls, let me tell you something. If you are old enough, and many of you are, you have been everything. Do you hear me? All of you. You have been both genders. All of you have been what I will call between genders, and that means that all of you have had gender switches. Do you know what happens when it's time for you to switch a gender? We have discussed it before. You'll have dozens of lifetimes as the same gender. You're used to it. It's comfortable. You cannot conceive of being anything else, yet now it's time to change. It takes approximately three lifetimes for you to get used to it, and in those three lifetimes, you will have what I call "gender confusion."

Pope attracts world-record crowd in wet Philippines

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere, Cecil Morella, 18 Jan 2015

Pope Francis (top L) kisses a child as he arrives to celebrate a mass

at a park in Manila on January 18, 2015 (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)

Manila (AFP) - Pope Francis drew a record six million people as he celebrated mass in the rain-swept Philippine capital Sunday, a triumphant finale to an Asian tour in which he championed the plight of the poor.

Filipinos are famous for practising a passionate brand of Catholicism and they turned out in a celebratory mood that defied the gloomy skies, determined to see the charismatic 78-year-old pontiff.

Hundreds of thousands of people gather in

 the rain to wait for a mass to be celebrated

 by Pope Francis at a park in Manila on

 January 18, 2015 (AFP Photo/Giuseppe

Cacace)

Francis made an exhilarating entrance to a Manila bayside park for the mass aboard a "popemobile" that was styled after the nation's iconic, flamboyant and much-loved "jeepney" minibus.

Dressed in a plastic yellow poncho, he waved and smiled to wildly cheering crowds, stopping repeatedly so he could lean over barriers and kiss babies, before reaching the sea of believers at Rizal Park.

The Philippines is famed as the Catholic Church's bastion in Asia, with 80 percent of the former Spanish colony following the faith.

But even the pope was stunned at the size of the crowd which he looked out on from the stage.

"I cannot fathom the faith of the simple people," Francis said, according to the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who acted as the pontiff's chaperone.

Six million turned out to see the pope at the park and along motorcade routes, the head of Manila's planning agency, Francis Tolentino, told AFP, adding this was based on calculations done with the police.

This surpassed the previous world record for a papal gathering of five million during a mass by John Paul II at the same venue in 1995.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said Sunday's crowd could even reach seven million. However he did not have any firm assessments to base this on.

'Gift of God'

Police stand along a highway in Manila

on January 14, 2015 during security

 preparations ahead of a visit by Pope

Francis (AFP Photo/Jay Directo)

Perla Ponce, 76, a retired nurse who travelled hundreds of kilometres from her home in the southern Philippines, said she felt "euphoric" to have seen the pope and been a part of the mass.

"You can't describe the feeling. It's just like you have met Jesus Christ himself," a rain-soaked but beaming Ponce told AFP.

Volunteer rescue worker Kristine Bancure had been on duty as a medic through the day but also got a glimpse of the pope.

"It's an overwhelming feeling. I felt the hair on my skin standing up," she said.

In his homily, the pope praised Filipinos for their reverence.

"The Philippines is the foremost Catholic country in Asia. This is itself a special gift of God, a blessing," the pontiff told the vast crowd.

This aerial handout photo taken and released by the Philippine Air Force Public

 Information Office on January 18, 2015 shows millions of faithful attending a mass

at a park by Pope Francis during his visit to Manila (AFP Photo/Philippine Air Force)

"But it is also a vocation. Filipinos are called to be outstanding missionaries of the faith in Asia."

He also spoke out against "poverty, ignorance and corruption", a theme he has focused on repeatedly during his five-day visit to the Philippines.

In his first speech of his tour, at the presidential palace, Francis lectured the nation's politicians to show integrity and end "scandalous social inequalities".

About 25 million Filipinos, or one quarter of the population, live on the equivalent of 60 cents a day or less, according to government data.

Emotional meeting

Pope Francis (R) embraces two children,

 including 12-year-old Glyzelle Palomar

 (2nd R), during his visit to the University

of Santo Tomas in Manila on January 18, 

2015 (AFP Photo/Giuseppe Cacace)

Before the mass, the pope had an emotional encounter with former street children at an event at a Catholic university.

Glyzelle Palomar, a 12-year-old taken in by a church charity, wept as she asked how God could allow children to descend into prostitution and drug addiction.

The pope folded her in his arms, and discarded his prepared speech as he reverted to his native Spanish to deliver an impromptu and heartfelt response.

"She is the only one who has put a question for which there is no answer and she wasn't even able to express it in words but in tears," he told those gathered at a Catholic university in Manila.

The pope called on people to show tangible, genuine concern for the poor and marginalised.

"(There are) certain realities in life we only see through eyes that are cleansed with our tears," he said.

Typhoon trip

The pope said the main reason for visiting the Philippines was to meet survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm ever recorded on land which claimed more than 7,350 lives in November 2013.

This handout picture released by the

 Vatican press office (Osservatore Romano) 

shows the faithful braving the rain as

 Pope Francis leads mass during his 

visit to Tacloban on January 17, 2015

(AFP Photo/Osservatore Romano )

He flew on Saturday morning from Manila to Leyte island, ground zero for the typhoon, and celebrated a deeply emotional mass with 200,000 survivors.

"Long live the pope!" the crowd chanted before the mass.

Francis had planned to spend a full day in communities where homes were flattened by monster winds and tsunami-like ocean surges, but was forced to return to Manila to avoid another tropical storm.

Still, he was deeply moved by his truncated time in the typhoon areas and felt privileged to have made the trip, Cardinal Tagle told reporters.

The pope's tour, which also took him to Sri Lanka, was his second trip to Asia in five months, in a nod to the region's growing importance for the Church as it faces declining support in Europe and the United States.

It was also the fourth papal visit to the Philippines, and the rapturous reception given to him throughout his stay cemented the nation's status as the Church's Asian role model.

The pope will fly back to Rome on Monday morning.

Pope Francis, wearing a plastic raincoat, waves to well-wishers after

a mass in Tacloban, on January 17, 2015 (AFP Photo/Johannes Eisele)

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Pope demands Philippine leaders end graft, fight poverty

Pope in Philippines says there are 'limits' to free speech

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere, 15 Jan 2015

Pope Francis waves to Filipino Catholics as his motorcade passes by

in Manila on January 15, 2015 (AFP Photo/Noel Celis)

Manila (AFP) - Pope Francis on Thursday condemned killing in God's name but warned religion could not be insulted, weighing into a global debate on free speech ahead of a rapturous welcome in the Philippines.

The pontiff made the comments to reporters as he flew from Sri Lanka to begin a five-day visit in the Catholic Church's Asian stronghold that is tipped to attract a world-record papal crowd.

Filipino Catholics gather after Pope Francis' 

motorcade passed by in Manila on January

15, 2015 (AFP Photo/Noel Celis)

"To kill in the name of God is an absurdity," Francis said when asked about last week's assault by Islamist gunmen on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in which 12 people died.

But the 78-year-old pontiff also said "each religion has its dignity" and "there are limits".

"If a good friend speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched, and that's normal. You cannot provoke, you cannot insult other people's faith, you cannot mock it," he said.

Brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi stormed Charlie Hebdo's Paris office on January 7, killing some of France's most loved satirical cartoonists in their outrage over the magazine's repeated depictions of the Prophet Mohammed.

The assault was followed two days later by an attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris by a gunman claiming to have coordinated his actions with the brothers.

In all, 17 people died over three days in the bloodiest attacks in France in half a century, sparking a global debate on the limits of free speech.

Charlie Hebdo drew ire from religious groups again this week when it published a "survivors" issue featuring an image of the prophet weeping on the cover.

The cartoon depicts Mohammed holding a sign reading "Je suis Charlie" (I am Charlie), which became a global rallying cry for those expressing sympathy for the victims and support for freedom of expression.

The cover sparked a backlash in some parts of the Muslim world, where depicting the prophet is seen as blasphemous.

Well-wishers line the streets to catch a 

glimpse of Pope Francis in Manila on

 January 15, 2015 (AFP Photo/

Martin Bureau)

Pope Francis, seen by many around the world as more progressive than many of his predecessors, said freedom of speech should be tempered by respect for faith.

"Freedom of speech is a right and a duty that must be displayed without offending," he said just before arriving in the Philippine capital of Manila.

Francis on Thursday began the second leg of his Asia tour after a successful visit to Sri Lanka, where he preached on reconciliation and religious tolerance.

Passionate welcome

Church bells tolled across the Philippines as his plane touched down, as hundreds of children on the tarmac chanted: "Welcome Pope Francis".

Hundreds of thousands of people then crowded the closed-off route the pope passed as he made a 35-minute trip in a "popemobile" from the airport to the Vatican's embassy to rest overnight.

The pope stood on the back of the vehicle, which had no walls, waving and smiling constantly to the crowd.

"When I saw him wave, it was like a thrill went through me," 35-year-old housewife Ivy Japlos told AFP.

Francis has said his two-nation tour is aimed at adding momentum to the Church's already impressive growth in Asia, with its support in the Philippines the benchmark for the rest of the region.

Pope Francis smiles, flanked by Head of 

Vatican Security Domenico Giani, as he

arrives at a military airbase in Manila

 on January 15, 2015 (AFP Photo/

Giuseppe Cacace)

Eighty percent of the former Spanish colony's 100 million people practise a famously fervent brand of Catholicism, and the pope is set to enjoy thunderously enthusiastic crowds throughout his stay.

The high-point of his trip is expected to be an open-air mass on Sunday at a park in Manila, with organisers preparing for up to six million people despite a forecast of rain and security concerns.

Organisers have said that, if the crowd is as big as expected, it will surpass the previous record for a papal gathering of five million during a mass by John Paul II at the same venue in 1995.

'Still suffering'

Francis, who is the fourth pope to visit the Philippines, is also due to visit communities devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan, which left 7,350 people dead or missing in 2013.

On Saturday, he is scheduled to deliver a mass to tens of thousands of people in Tacloban, one of the worst-hit cities in the central Philippines, and have an intimate lunch with 30 typhoon survivors.

"The heart of the message will be the poor, the poor who want to move forward, who have suffered from the typhoon and are still suffering its consequences," the pope told reporters on way to the Philippines.

The main scheduled events on Friday included a state welcome at the presidential palace, a mass at Manila Cathedral and a meeting at a shopping mall with thousands of families.

Pope Francis waves to students delivering

a performance shortly after arriving at a 

military airbase in Manila on January 15,

2015, where he was greeted by President

benigno Aquino (R) (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)

Authorities have expressed major concerns over the pope's security in the Philippines, where attempts have been made to kill visiting pontiffs twice before.

Nearly 40,000 soldiers and police are being deployed to protect Francis in what Philippine military chief General Gregorio Catapang described as a "security nightmare".

Potential stampedes from the giant crowds, as well as the threat of Islamic militants or lone-wolf assailants, are among the concerns.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino made a nationally televised address this week specifically to highlight the security threats for the pope and call on all Filipinos to help protect him.

Adding to the concerns, the pontiff has insisted he will not travel in a bullet-proof vehicle during his big events so he can be closer to the faithful.

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"2015" (3) - Jan 10/11, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New


"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

Philippine top court approves controversial birth control law

Yahoo – AFP, 8 April 2014

File photo taken in August 2012 shows people rallying for the passage of

 a bill providing greater access to birth control in Quezon City, Manila (AFP

Photo/Jay Directo)

Manila (AFP) - The Philippines' highest court approved Tuesday a controversial birth control law that supporters said would transform the lives of millions of poor Filipinos, in a stunning defeat for the powerful Catholic Church.

"The RH law is not unconstitutional," Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te told reporters, announcing a ruling that struck down more than a dozen petitions against the reproductive health law by church groups.

The law requires government health centres to hand out free condoms and birth control pills, as well as mandating that sex education be taught in schools.

File photo taken in August 2012

shows people rallying for the

passage of a bill providing greater

access to birth control in Quezon

City, Manila (AFP Photo/Jay

Directo)

The law also requires that public health workers receive family planning training, while post abortion medical care is also legalised.

The Catholic Church had until Tuesday led a successful campaign for more than 15 years against any form of family planning laws in the Philippines.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino defied church pressure and signed the law into effect in December 2012, but the Supreme Court quickly suspended it after church groups filed petitions arguing it was unconstitutional.

"This monumental decision upholds the separation of church and state and affirms the supremacy of government in secular concerns like health and socio-economic development," legislator Edcel Lagman, the principal author of the law, said immediately after the verdict.

"A grateful nation salutes the majority of justices for their favourable ruling promoting reproductive health and giving impetus to sustainable human development."

The Catholic Church, which counts over 80 percent of the country's 100 million population as members, had led street protests denouncing the law as "evil", and at one point in its opposition campaign threatened Aquino with excommunication.

'Civil disobedience'

One of its hardline opponents and a petitioner to the court, former senator Francisco Tatad, said allowing the law to take effect could force Catholics into an open revolt.

"This means civil disobedience at the very least, actual revolt at the most extreme," Tatad wrote in a commentary in the Manila Times newspaper on Tuesday.

"Some of us will want to defy the power of the devil and die as martyrs, if need be, in the only cause that gives us a chance to fight for something much bigger than ourselves."

Church leaders have helped lead two revolutions that toppled unpopular presidents in recent Philippine history, and they continue to insist they have a right to influence the parliamentary and legal branches of government.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino at Parliament House in Kuala

Lumpur on February 28, 2014 (AFP Photo/Modh Rasfan)

Another example of its enduring influence is that the Philippines is the only country where divorce remains illegal.

Nevertheless, many people across the sprawling archipelago have embraced less conservative views in recent decades.

A recent survey carried by the respected Social Weather Stations polling group said about 84 percent of Filipinos agreed that the government should provide free family planning options such as contraceptives.

It said 72 percent were "in favour" of the law.

Women's rights groups and other supporters of the law say it will be a powerful tool in fighting poverty and cutting the birth rate of 3.54, one of the highest in the world.

More than a quarter of the population live on the equivalent of 62 cents a day, according to the government, and experts say there is an urgent need to provide free reproductive medical services that the poor can not otherwise afford.

More than a third of the capital's 14 million population live in sprawling slums, according to a 2010 World Health Organization report, and many of them do not have access to proper sanitation, let alone health centres.

According to the British medical charity Merlin, which has backed the passage of the law, 14-15 mothers die daily in the Philippines in complications related to child birth.

Related Articles:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”