THE Duterte administration is looking to pour in more funds for population control as it gears to fully implement the reproductive health (RH) law, the country’s socioeconomic planning chief said, with particular focus on reducing the number of teenage pregnancies in an effort to help reduce poverty.

The Philippines is still far from hitting a demographic “sweet spot,” Socieconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said yesterday, with a sizeable number of poor families left to take care of children beyond the number which they can provide for.

Speaking during a press briefing with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Mr. Pernia said the government is forging on with the full implementation of the RH law, particularly for sex education in schools to reduce cases of unwanted pregnancies.

“There’s an impact on economic growth… and also a companion impact of investing in teenage girls and boys as well as in the implementation of the responsible parenthood and RH law in terms of sharp reductions in poverty,” Mr. Pernia told reporters in a briefing in Pasig City.

“As poor women are relieved of unwanted pregnancies, they could find work or participate in continuing education and skills training, leading to smaller desired family size. Fewer and better cared for children can then look to a brighter future.

Had the Philippines put in place family planning programs as early as 2008, the country would have hit the so-called sweet spot by 2030, Mr. Pernia said. However, delays in its implementation has pushed back reaping the dividend — that is, a greater number of Filipinos making money as part of the workforce against the young and old dependents — to 2050.

“Rapid population growth in poor and developing countries hinders economic development, pushing the next generation of citizens into the poverty trap,” read the UNFPA study titled “Demographic Sweet Spot and Dividend in the Philippines: The Window of Opportunity is Closing Fast.”

“Full implementation of the Reproductive Health Law is the key to lowering fertility rate.”

In order for the Philippines to reap its demographic dividend, the country must better control population growth by ensuring access to education and health care, UNFPA country representative Klaus Beck said. In particular, the transition entails reducing both fertility and infant mortality rates, increased family planning, and boosting youth employment.

Specific focus should be given to teenage girls, who bear the brunt of accidental pregnancies.

“If you have early childbirth, you are less likely to finish high school. This comes with a number of consequences in terms of lifetime earnings,” Mr. Beck added. “In fact, the cost of not finishing your high school education, the equivalent of that over a lifetime of these young people would be P27 billion per year or 1% of gross domestic product.”

The population has ballooned to 100.98 million as of August 2015, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The Philippines has the highest fertility rate across Southeast Asia at a 3% average as of 2013, Mr. Beck added.

Looking ahead, Mr. Pernia said additional investments will likely be made by the government as it goes “full speed ahead” in providing sex education in schools starting the fifth or sixth grade, above the estimated P2-billion earmarked during the current year’s budget for programs on responsible parenthood.

The state would likely infuse more funds for the purpose, with Mr. Pernia saying that resorting to borrowing may be “justifiable” to make additional family planning modes available to Filipinos in keeping with Pres. Rodrigo R. Duterte’s priority socioeconomic agenda.

Among the targets include reducing the fertility rate and bringing contraception use to 70%, well above the current 50% level, Mr. Pernia said.

The government is working to reduce poverty incidence by 1.25 to 1.5 percentage points yearly to end with 16-17% by 2022, down from the 26.3% level as of end-June 2015.

Source: www.bworldonline.com