Philippines Cloning - Sect claims more clones expected
TAPE: EF03/0023
IN_TIME: 00:50:49
DURATION: 3:20
SOURCES: APTN
RESTRICTIONS:
DATELINE: Manila - 8 Jan 2003
SHOTLIST:
1. Wide shot of pavilion in park
2. Photos of alleged UFO sightings displayed in pavilion
3. Book titled "Extra Terrestrials", pan to another book titled "Yes to Human Cloning"
4. Two Raelian members standing beside display
5. Children looking
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Engineer Cesar Caparros, Founder and Organiser Philippines Raelian Movement
"The role of the Philippine Raelian, is to propagate or act as being the agent of couples here in the Philippines - Filipino couples, childless couples, who are interested in having their own baby through cloning."
7. Man viewing photo exhibit
8. Various close-ups of photos showing alleged UFO sightings
9. Close-up of man looking at exhibit
10. Reverse shot of man viewing photos
11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Engineer Cesar Caparros, Founder and Organiser Philippines Raelian Movement
"They have cloned already ten couples, and five of them suffered miscarriages, and the other two have delivered already healthy babies, and the remaining three couples are due this coming, I think, early February."
12. Pan from cloning book to Caparros
13. Other Raelian members looking at exhibit
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Engineer Cesar Caparros, Founder and Organiser Philippines Raelian Movement
"They are already prepared to implant another 20 couples, and there are already, I think, 2000 couples to... who are willing and interested in being cloned."
15. Manila street scene
16. Banner reading "The Pope invites you to the World's largest Family Reunion", pan to photo of Pope John Paul II
17. Other family meeting banners
18. Wide shot of Monsignor Hernando Coronel, Secretary General, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
19. SOUNDBITE: (English) Monsignor Hernando Coronel, Secretary General, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
"There are two observations with regards to this, so we don't take their (the Raelian's) claim that human life comes from some other alien planets - we don't take that seriously. Second is their definition of cloning. A clone is not the child coming from two parents. A clone is basically, you reproduce scientifically, from the genes or the DNA of a person - that same individual, so, that is not a child, but another father or another mother."
20. Pan of Raelian members standing beside photo exhibit
21. Close-up of photo of alleged UFO
22. Wide shot of park monument
STORYLINE:
Filipino members of the Raelian Movement - the group currently at the centre of human cloning claims - regularly meet in a suburban park in Manila to exhibit photographs of alleged UFO sightings around the world.
The movement, which believes aliens created life on earth, has close links with the company Clonaid, which is surrounded by controversy over its recent claims that it had successfully cloned a human being.
In the midst of the debate, Filipino Raelians say they are ready to serve as the booking agent for childless Filipino couples who are interested in having babies cloned.
Founder of the Raelian movement in the Philippines, Engineer Cesar Caparros, says the group is getting constant updates from Clonaid about the progress of its cloning programme.
Caparros says Clonaid had cloned 10 couples - five were miscarried, two were born successfully, and the remaining three are due to be delivered next month.
He adds that more are expected.
The Catholic Church in the Philippines - now in the midst of preparations for the fourth World Meeting of Families, scheduled for later this month - has expressed concerns about the claims of cloning, and its repercussions.
In the absence of proof, Secretary-General of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Monsignor Hernando Coronel, says he is skeptical about this issue.
He says the church objects to cloning because it goes against their teachings of family values. Coronel says he doesn't take the Raelian's claim that human life comes from another planet seriously.
Caparros however says that Raelians see cloning as the key to eternal life. He says there are now 200 Raelian members in the Philippines, up from just 3 when the group was founded there in 1993.