At the rate babies are being born annually, there will be 94 million Filipinos in 2010, the head of the Philippine Population Commission (Popcom) reported.

Tomas Osias, the Popcom chairman, explained the increase is due mainly to the country’s failure to curb its annual population growth rate of 2.04 per cent, one of the highest not only in Asia and the Pacific but also in the entire world.

At that rate, this means that two million babies are born every year to add to the total population of 92 million in 2009, who have to be fed, clothed, housed and educated, according to Osias.

In this light, the Popcom chief could not help but compare the Philippines to its “twin” country - Thailand which has succeeded in reducing its population growth rate to just one per cent a year.

In the 1970s, Osias noted that both the Philippines and Thailand were almost equal in terms of annual economic and population growth.

But through the years, he said Thailand has made giant strides in defusing its “population bomb” by pursuing an aggressive family planning campaign through the promotion of contraceptives like condom.

“We have to manage our population by providing couples with informed choice,” he pointed out, apparently referring to the Thailand experience. “All medically safe and ethically accepted family planning methods must be available to them.”

But such approach has been stymied by strong opposition from the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) which is strictly hewing to the Vatican line that only encourages the use of natural contraceptives such as withdrawal or the rhythm method for couples to plan the number of their children.

As such, the CBCP frowns on the use of artificial family planning methods like the pill, condom, intrauterine device (IUD) and chemical injections, which it considers as sin because it violates the commandments of the Almighty.

It is thus no surprise that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is acknowledged to be devout Roman Catholic, has ordered the Department of Health to launch a family planning campaign through the active promotion of natural contraceptives.

Demographers, like Osias, have admitted that the CBCP influence is so strong that the controversial reproductive health or family planning bill, which the Church opposes, has again been shelved in the House of Representatives before it adjourned last week.

The bill, which has been pending in the House for the past 14 years, calls on the government to adopt a population control programme by allowing couples, among others, to make an informed choice on the use of contraceptives.

Joining Popcom’s Osias in batting for the bill is Elizabeth Angsioco, the secretary general of the nongovernment Reproductive Health Alliance Network (RHAN), who said the country should have a strong family planning programme to ensure a better quality of life for the Filipinos.

Date : 08/02/2010. News by Newsofap.com