AHN News, October 4, 2007
Philippines Congress Wants $1 Billion For Birth Control
Paul Icamina - AHN News Writer
Manila, Philippines (AHN) - Faced with a runaway population that is expected to reach over 90.5 million next year, the Philippines Congress wants 1 billion pesos ($22 million USD) to spend on birth control measures.
The amount far exceeds the 30 million pesos (about U.S. $600,000) currently allotted by the Department of Health for population programs, which includes funding for condoms and contraceptive pills.
It will be a "political statement," said Rep. Edcel Lagman, chairman of the Lower House appropriations committee, considering it will be the first time that Congress will set aside funds for "reproductive health, responsible parenthood and population development."
"Because President Arroyo is afraid of the [Catholic] bishops and partly because of her religious beliefs," Lagman told the Philippine Star, the administration has failed to deal with the population problem.
"We cannot achieve genuine and sustainable human development if we continue to default in addressing the population problem," he said, adding the Philippine population growth rate of 2.34 percent is one of the highest in the world.
The Catholic hierarchy is strongly against artificial contraceptives, advocating instead the rhythm or withdrawal method. Many of those who opt for condoms and pills rely on government contraceptives.
The U.S. Agency for International Development - which in the last 12 years had supplied 80 percent of the contraceptives in the Philippines - will end its donation next year, in line with Manila's goal of self-reliance in family planning.
The fear is that the government cannot cope with the demand.
Condoms and contraceptive pills could be unaffordable to the majority who are poor. And that is dire news for a population that is estimated at about 89 million today - and fast moving forward to 142 million by 2040.
According to the Department of Health, the Philippines annual population growth slowed down to a rate of 1.95 percent last year. The medium-term target is 1.94 percent, says the National Economic and Development Authority, the rate necessary for the economy to feed and sustain the population and reach poverty reduction goals.
The government has set a target of reducing the proportion of population living below the poverty line from 45.3 per cent in 1991 to 22.7 per cent by 2015. About one of three Filipinos (30 percent) now live in poverty, says the National Statistical Coordination Board.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) - a major donor to the country's population program - has criticized the Arroyo administration for its population policy, claiming the government might miss its poverty reduction targets.
The total fertility rate (which measures the number of children women can expect in a lifetime) stands at 3.3, one of the highest in Asia, the UNFPA points out.
A World Bank project brief noted that while contraceptive prevalence rose to 49 per cent in 2003 from 36 per cent in 1988, women, on the average, are still having one more child than intended.
With around four babies born every minute since the year 2000, the UNFPA notes, about a third of the population is earning insufficient income to pay for food, housing and basic needs. These people are living on $1 a day, the World Bank definition of living in poverty.
According to the Philippine Population Commission, for every 10 people in the working age group of 15-65 years old, six depended on them for food and other basic needs. And of these six dependents, on the average, five are children and one is elderly.
The Population Commission has been issuing warnings since 2000 that the higher than average rate of dependency has meant that few household have savings, with most of household income having gone to pay for basic goods and services.
"The reality is that we cannot educate, provide health services and feed
130 million Filipinos by 2025," says Senator Rodolfo Biazon.