Just be creative about family planning

Over the course of two days last week, I heard two people comment on population control that made me conclude this administration is just not being creative about it. They also seem to be using the Church as an excuse for doing nothing. There is apparently, no need to lock horns with the Catholic Church on this one. We can deal with the problem, get results and not give the Church reason to be riled.

Over lunch with business writers last Thursday, presidential candidate (I hate the word presidentiable which even the late Rod Dula regretted having coined in utter jest) Raul Roco said he would just implement the provision of the Constitution requiring the state to support responsible parenthood. That means presenting all available means of limiting family size except abortion, which is also banned by the Constitution, and let the individual choose.

Over breakfast the following day with Peggy Dulany, founder and chair of Synergos Institute and a daughter of David Rockefeller, she said we could undertake programs directed at educating women, upgrading their skills and providing them with livelihood opportunities. She said that it had been proven in many places abroad that given a choice, educated women who also have better things to do, like earning a living, normally choose to limit family size if only to give their children better future prospects.

Well, I don’t think the Catholic Church will object to programs that uplift the status of women. Peggy’s approach is doubly interesting because it also helps impoverished families to get out of the poverty trap through self-help. If more women get really successful, that should help countryside economies too.

However, the approach also means government or NGOs must make sure the pills, the condoms or the rhythm calendars/thermometers are available when the women ask for them. Additionally, microfinance facilities must also be there to help them start livelihood projects that would keep them busy.

In the end, the rate of population growth is also a function of a country’s level of economic development. The more developed economies, except the United States, have gone the other extreme and are actually facing declining populations. The US would have gone along the same route were it not for increased migration.

Migration

Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary General, observed that "one of the biggest tests for the enlarged European Union, in the years and decades to come, will be how it manages the challenge of immigration. If European societies rise to this challenge, immigration will enrich and strengthen them. If they fail to do so, the result may be declining living standards, and social division."

Mr. Annan declared that the Europeans are not alone in this situation. The Japanese and the South Koreans, among others, also need immigrants because they are living longer and having fewer children. Without immigration, "they face similar possible futures where jobs would go unfilled and services undelivered, as economies shrink and societies stagnate."

While he admits that immigration alone will not solve these problems, it is an essential part of any solution. Actually, he thinks that "even in countries without these demographic problems, immigrants can be engines of economic growth and agents of social dynamism."

Obviously, Annan admits, "poor countries can also benefit from migration. Migrants sent at least $88 billion to developing countries in remittances during 2002–54 percent more than the $57 billion those countries received in development aid."For us, our migrant workers bring in at least $8 billion dollars into the Philippine economy. Without them, who knows... maybe our exchange rate would have topped Lucio Tan’s predicted P120 to the dollar by now.

In our lunch meeting with Sen. Roco last Thursday, he told business writers that it is precisely because of the importance of this issue that if elected, he plans to create a special Presidential Commission for the Management of Global Migration. Roco said he will use this body to do a better coordinated and thought out job of managing our migrants than the scattered bureaucracies and ad hoc programs we have today. Roco wants this body to undertake bilateral negotiations with host countries of our workers, among other functions.

Kofi Annan agrees. "Managing migration is not only a matter of opening doors and joining hands internationally. It also requires each country to do more to integrate new arrivals. Immigrants must adjust to their new societies–and societies need to adjust too. Only with an imaginative strategy for integrating immigrants can countries ensure that they enrich the host society more than they unsettle it."

I guess the UN Chief recognizes the backlash caused by immigrants on native populations in the West, including migrant nations like America and Australia. So he reminds them that "no one should lose sight of the tremendous contribution that millions of immigrants have already made to modern European societies, and indeed to societies all over the world. Many have become leaders in government, science, academia, sports and the arts. Others are less famous but play an equally vital role. Without them, many health systems would be short-staffed, many parents would not have the home help they need to pursue careers, and many jobs that provide services and generate revenue would go unfilled. Immigrants are part of the solution, not part of the problem."

Annan warns "against the tendency to make immigrants the scapegoats for social problems. The vast majority of immigrants are industrious, courageous and determined. They don’t want a free ride. They want a fair opportunity for themselves and their families. They are not criminals or terrorists. They are law-abiding. They don’t want to live apart. They want to integrate, while retaining their identity."

I guess once we take a more proactive stance on migration, using the diplomatic resources of the state to help our migrants adjust to their new homes and to protect their rights, this present day phenomenon wouldn’t be such a heartbreaker that it is today for many of our modern heroes.

Roco’s timing is just right. The developed countries of the West are now realizing that they need migrants. Annan also speaks of America, Australia, Japan and South Korea when he declared that "a closed Europe would be a meaner, poorer, weaker, older Europe. An open Europe will be a fairer, richer, stronger, younger Europe–provided Europe manages immigration well."

Credibility

Philstar reader Rosemarie Ang from Iligan reacted to our column last Friday: "Its impossible for Filipinos to donate gold to our government not only because of lack of patriotism but because our government lacks credibility."

Mar Patalinjug, a Pinoy living in New York wrote: "You must have made that suggestion tongue in cheek. I am afraid not one of those you mentioned will ever convert his or her dollars into pesos, especially now that the peso is taking a nosedive."

Men and computers

Here’s Dr. Ernie E.

Q: Why do men love computers?

A: No matter what mood they’re in, they can still get a floppy in. Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]