Ligtas Pilipinas

Time and again we have been warned by various world agencies that if we do not manage our population growth, poverty incidence in this country will increase significantly within this decade. One hundred million people is what well have in eight years and if were going to look at the numbers no matter how hard we try, we will have difficulty achieving an economic growth rate of eight percent just to get by with a 2.3 percent population growth rate. So the cycle of poverty will continue. The government can call its population management program by whatever name – Ligtas Buntis, Suway Sarap, Sagip Matris, Iwas Siping – the bottom line is we need to free this country from this potential time bomb. The UN already projected that India is poised to lead the pack with a projected 1.6-billion population by 2050, overtaking China. By the same period as well, the world’s population is set to rise by about 40 percent or 9.1-billion people from the current 6.5 billion. The USAID has confirmed that what we have is a serious problem. In any recorded economic history, no country had ever reached the status of a developed economy with the albatross of a rapidly-growing population.

With a population of 1.3 billion, China currently tops the list. India is a close second with 1.1-billion people. Yet no matter how much both try to show that their countries are progressing with a consistent nine percent annual growth rate, they are still held back by massive poverty and overpopulation in the countryside. The income ratio between urban and rural folks is so unequal. With their population, poverty, and pollution problems, both countries have began to effect serious population management programs.

The argument of the pro-life groups and the CBCP that the absence of good governance is really the reason why there is so much poverty is a misconception, to say the least. The recently-released Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) survey showed that traders consider Indonesia as the most corrupt country in Asia with the Philippines not far behind. Nevertheless, Indonesia - the fourth most populous nation in the world - is doing something to manage its population growth. The government implemented a family planning program that has successfully reduced its growth rate to about 1.5 percent, definitely lower than our 2.3 percent. They also brought down their poverty level from 19.1 percent in 2000 to 16.6 in early 2004, lower than the level preceding the 1998 Indonesian crisis. And the country is reportedly on track in achieving poverty levels of 7.5 percent by 2015. So good governance is clearly not the issue here.

Hard-liners within the folds of the Church are imposing their will on the majority. Many people believe that they should be given choices on which method they can use. Poor families with three boys and two girls usually are forced to have the girls work as domestic helpers and, worse, some even as women of the night in order to send the boys to school. To deny women educational opportunities is downright Talibanic. Some parents in the provinces are forced to have their children put up for adoption. In Quezon City, Mayor Sonny Belmonte has initiated a successful anti-poverty program for its 2.9-million residents, the city with the highest number of people in the metropolis. But if you just look beyond North Forbes in the Pinagkaisahan area, you will see the number of children swarming like ants in the narrow streets – which is just unbelievable.

Spain brought the faith to the Philippines, the only Catholic country in Southeast Asia. Sometimes, I am beginning to wonder if Christianity is really a blessing. Certainly, the Spanish priests weren’t any help in managing our population because as early as the 19th Century – even in our family – my paternal great-great-grandfather was a Spanish friar named Fr. Francisco Lopez. In a research done by a cousin to update the family tree, we discovered that our prolific Spanish friar great-great-grandfather had 10 children and we thought all along he had only one daughter – my great-grandmother. Que horor! Que barbaridad!, as my grandmother would say.

Church attendance in Spain and Italy – the bastions of Catholicism – have dropped substantially. Analysts say this too will likely happen in the Philippines because of the hard-line stance of the Church. Perhaps, the most sensible approach to population management would be for the Church to continue advocating the rhythm method while letting the rest follow their conscience. The state should not be hampered in implementing what is right for the common good. Reports that priests have refused to give Communion to health workers caught everyone by surprise, including GMA. I certainly hope GMA will not be intimidated by this preposterous act and stay on course with her promise to bring down the present population growth rate from 2.3 percent to 1.9 percent before the end of her term.

In the book The Future in Plain Sight: Nine Clues to the Coming Instability, Eugene Linden foresaw economic depression, plagues, floods, famine, and overpopulation. It mentioned the Philippines ominously by 2050. Congressman Lagman’s House Bill 3773, otherwise known as the Responsible Parenthood and Population Management Act of 2005, is what we badly need today. It is clear that the aim is to provide basic reproductive health services and NOT advocate abortion. If we, and I mean all of us, want to save this country from a disaster worse than a hundred tsunamis, a comprehensive population management program must be implemented – like yesterday – before its too late.

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