This is re-posted opinion piece.
The Seattle Times newspaper carried a story the other day on President Noynoy Aquino making the proposed reproductive health bill a priority legislative measure. The item lauded P-Noy for having the political will to finally push for a long overdue government program to help cut down poverty levels in the 12th most populous country in the world. It’s clear that population experts particularly in the western press are monitoring this issue, with writers and columnists from The Economist to The Huffington Post watching with great interest on how the President of the Philippines is holding up against the pressure from anti-RH bill advocates to junk the controversial bill.
There are 101,833,938 (according to the CIA-World Factbook) reasons why we need to start worrying about the future of our country — all the more reason why the president must stand firm on a measure that would help free the majority of Filipinos from the shackles of poverty. Figures from the Australian AID place the number of Filipinos living below the poverty line, at $1 per day, as 20 million — while those living below $2 per day are as high as 40 million in 2006 — with the numbers having undoubtedly increased rapidly since then.
Economists like Dr. Ernie Pernia of the University of the Philippines commend President Aquino for finally making the RH bill a priority measure. No amount of corruption clean up can equal the negative impact of rapid population growth in the fight against poverty. The administration’s drive to curb corruption can certainly help free up funds for pro-poor programs, but it will never be enough to address the complex problems faced by the poor majority whose numbers keep growing at an unprecedented and alarming rate.
The studies cited by Pernia reveal high fertility rates that are inversely proportional with low gross domestic investments especially in the Philippines, which has the highest fertility rate (meaning the average number of children a woman gives birth to) in the Asian region at 3.3 percent. The Philippines also has the highest poverty incidence rate in the region, recorded at 26.5 percent in 2009. The more children couples have, the less their ability to save or invest on things such as education and health.
Even progressive countries like China feel the impact of having a very high population — estimated at 1.3 billion — with the widening disparity between the rich and the poor. China has more than one million dollar millionaires (with an average wealth of $1.5 million and above), but 150 million Chinese live below $1 dollar per day, while 500 million more subsist on below $2 a day according to reports — meaning more than half are poor.
The same goes for India, the country known for producing dollar millionaires at the fastest pace and for having more billionaires than France or the UK, with an economy growing at 10 percent a year. Out of its estimated population of 1.2 billion, 350 million live on less than $1 per day while 700 million make do with less than $2 per day — which is why it continues to receive aid from countries like the UK. As the ADB country director put it, only a good population policy program can help reduce poverty and increase a country’s economic growth. More importantly, it will help parents manage the size of their family according to their means, giving them more opportunity to provide better healthcare and education for their children.
While Church leaders feel they have a moral obligation to assert their authority on the issue, they must also remember that absolutely no one has the right to infringe on the privacy of one’s bedroom. As my favorite feisty Senator Miriam Santiago said, the right to privacy is enshrined implicitly in the Constitution and this constitutional right extends to sex, marriage and procreation. Neither the State nor Church should meddle in the choice of people when it comes to their preferred method of family planning.
The highly intelligent Miriam Santiago is the principal author of the Senate’s version of the RH bill. As pointed out by the Senator, those opposing the bill should remember that women especially the poor must be protected from the fatal consequences of unhealthy pregnancies — with women giving birth year after year simply because they do not have the means to space the birth of their children. What’s really sad is the fact that parents cannot afford to send their children to school, adding more potential burden to the taxpayer.
To many people, the president’s unwavering stand on the face of mounting pressure from “pro-life” advocates is proof that he, indeed, listens to his “bosses,” most of them coming from the poor sector of society, crying out for help. The most recent survey from the Social Weather Stations revealed that 82 percent of Filipinos see family planning as a “personal choice” — and no one should dictate on this freedom to choose according to one’s conscience. More tellingly, more than half of those surveyed do not equate the use of condoms, IUDs, pills and other forms of contraception to abortion. Despite what some may believe, scientists and medical experts have already explained that contraception or simply put, prevention of pregnancy, is definitely not abortion.
The debate on the RH bill is long overdue. Like the rest of the world, let’s all watch who among our legislators will firmly stand up for what they truly believe in and not follow the old politics of convenience. Let’s hope that this time, we will see some light at the end of this tunnel.
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E-mail: [email protected]
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By: Babe Romualdez – Babe’s Eye View
Source: The Philippine Star, Aug. 21, 2011
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