Lavonnie Gittens
Blog 5
The Philippines’
Population Debate
101 East investigates
why family planning remains a highly controversial issue in the Philippines.
28 Sep 2012
4:53pm
Summary
The Filipino population
is more than 103 million with only 184,420 sq. mi of land the Philippine
density is approximately 797.2/sq. mi, that there are almost 800 people for
every square mile. Even with such a high population there are just about 2
million children born annually. The government is concerned that the current
rate of population growth will in the near future deplete the resources the
Philippines use to sustain life. The UN warns that this may actually be their
reality as soon as 2025. Taking heed to this information the Filipino
government developed a reproductive health bill that will give information and
access to all forms of contraception. This bill has been delayed in Congress
for more than 16 years and in that time the predominantly Roman Catholic
population has almost doubled. This excessive increase of the population has
been draining the health and economic resources of the country. Although rapid
growth like this will soon make it so the Philippines will not have enough
resources to feed its population the Roman Catholic Church is strongly opposed
to the bill. The church believes such a bill will promote promiscuity and
abortion. Religion is a significant part of the Filipino society. Catholicism
in the Philippines is described as more than just a religion rather a culture
and way of life. More than 80% of the population is Catholic making the
Philippines the world 3rd largest Catholic nation. Father Melvin Castro states
that this is a Western imposition of their culture on the Filipino culture. He
suggests if the poor were asked what they needed they would say education,
housing and jobs not contraceptives.
Analysis
Liza Cabia-an 38 mother
of 13 says that she and her husband never planned to have so many children in
fact they rarely have sex. It just so happens when they do she would get
pregnant. She is Catholic, she is Filipino, she is poor and she has chosen to
use a form of artificial contraception. Liza appears to not be alone in the
desire to have contraceptives more readily available. There seems to be a sense
of organic solidarity amongst the poorer Filipino's. The Church suggests that
people use natural ways to avoid unplanned pregnancies. The people in favor of
this new bill don't seem to be opposed to that. To me it seems as though they,
specifically the women want more options especially ones that offer them more
control over their body. The tough anti-abortion laws have only made abortions
an underground practice. More than 500,000 Filipino women risk their lives
annually to undergo this unsafe procedure. Having the ability to decide to get
pregnant or not while still being able to engage in sexually intimacy is
directly several articles under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Liza
has 13 children and is struggling to maintain adequate shelter and food for her
family. Continued childbirth may have negative effects on her body. Having 13
children is challenging, when this is done in an impoverished environment the
challenge is amplified. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
states that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the
health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing,
housing and medical care and necessary. I don't believe that families like
the Cabia-an's decided nor want to live in poverty and very few will be able to
overcome it. Without access to more contraceptives these families will pass on
their legacy of poverty to the many children they are producing. The cycle of
poverty is ever present in the Philippines. In order to begin to break this
cycle many changes need to be made. I believe a central aspect to the Filipino
poverty problem is the amount of children born into poverty. Less children will
allow the parents to allocate more time to work which in turn will help with
education, medical care, mental health (i.e. less stress), and increased
financial capital.
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