POPULATION CONTROL PROGRAM EXPLAINED – There is a fundamental point that needs emphasis: population control and family planning program, and contraceptive use cannot exist completely independently. Both are essentially important to each other. Surely population explosion is far more than compounding the country’s prevailing socio-economic problems. Population control program defines the boundaries that give security to the majority – food, education, shelter, health care and medical services, employment and more.
However, other projections are even terrifying. Consider this: the supply of contraceptives becomes scarce as a result of the USAID decision to stop its project, most likely there will be more cases of abortion even without the controversial Reproductive Health Bill. About nearly a million women are estimated to have abortions each year to deal with the financial and emotional strain of unwanted pregnancy despite the fact that abortion is highly illegal and strictly prohibited and against the teachings of the Catholic Church.
And besides, the church shall continue defending the right to life of every human being, from the moment of conception to the end of his or her natural life, and resists all organized efforts of the government that they perceived as transplanting “anti-life and anti-family laws and practices” into our social order. For fear of getting the brunt of the powerful and influential Catholic Church, what has to be done by some of our lawmakers, it might be asked?
We should take a good look at our predicament and raised this question: What isn’t going right here in our country? Take note that growth outruns the country’s ability to build its economy and investment in infrastructure. The country’s puny savings and high consumption rates, chronic budget deficits, high population growth and high-ratio of non-working dependents to working population makes the Philippines lagged far behind its progressive and prosperous neighbors. These countries – Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia reduced birth rates at the time of or before economic takeoff.
Yes, in reality as stated earlier, population growth is straining the country’s resources, which is why there is crushing poverty – an old problem traditionally associated with joblessness, homelessness, landlessness, and food shortage, lack of shelter and medical care, and literacy. But it needs not to be a permanent one. With an honest-to-goodness, well-meaning and long term government population control and human development program like the RH bill, Filipinos could properly organized and motivated to become an important resource in addressing their own economic and social conditions.
They have to realize that the most important change will come not only from the government or any outside entity but from them. They must firmly believe that the problem on population can be conquered if only they have the drive, the courage and the will to overcome it. Any government program can be achieved if the strong political will and determination intervene in every turn. Sustaining legislative advocacy is the first mean to the success of any government undertaking.
We would call this the brain and spinal column of a population, human development and reproductive health program, such as we defined the subject. And we must begin with what experts call a “situational factor” – the involvement of a non-stock and non-profit foundation such as the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Inc. (PLCPD), a non-government organization established in December 1989.
The foundation becomes an advocacy, empowering and building institution between the legislature, government agencies and civil society to effectively gather support and consolidate efforts in the formulation and implementation of laws that favor population control and sustainable human development program. But the PLCPD or the like could only undertake advocacy work on population and human development, and make it succeed if the government officials – from top to bottom would embrace sacrifice, work shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, and set aside self-righteous pride in addressing the concern and see to it that the urgent program should be strictly followed and carried out to the letter. There is an advocacy worth our support and cooperation – the RH Bill.
