Why not vasectomy?

We have a couple from Negros Occidental who wrote us about their views on reproductive health, which incidentally, is once again on the table in recent Congressional meetings. Here are some parts of Nelly and Dave Duckett’s quite lengthy letter.

“We read today an article written by a Catholic priest in the Visayan Daily Star. In it, he gave an account of a taxi driver’s views (about wanting) to have a happy family life without poverty. (The driver) wanted (to have) only two or three children, after which he said he would have a vasectomy. The priest attacked his viewpoint and spouted the usual Catholic Church argument of chastity within marriage.

“We ourselves thought the (driver’s) views were sensible, and many wives here in the Philippines would welcome a similar responsible view from their husband.

“Vasectomy of course is the nearest thing to the natural way of not producing offspring…. Unfortunately (there is) so much misinformation on vasectomy… that many Filipinos are put off (by) this simple method of controlling family size.

Size and affordability

“We (propose) the simple argument that family size should be (based on) what (one) can afford. This reasoning is in place in all the better-off countries of the world.

“Not (having) enough jobs is one reason for poverty. In the Philippines, we do not have enough jobs even for the trained and skilled young people. In Tita Cory’s time, we wasted our big chance to make English our national language.

“We have… politicians who attack businessman wanting to invest here rather than our neighbors. In consequence, we lose jobs that go elsewhere in Asia. We have cities that say they want to attract tourists but have dirty streets, sidewalk vendors, dogs running free, and guys who pee openly in the streets.

“Europe has an open door policy which means member countries can enter freely and take jobs. You cannot use the OFW term to just the Philippines, (but) Poland where wages are also low had their own version of OFWs. Twenty years ago, Ireland had very few workers from outside Ireland; now it is different.

“(It is) just as well that this strongly Catholic country is free from, or pays little attention to, the no-contraception policy of the church. If the rich West cannot offer enough jobs when they have population control, what chances have we with none! All our social problems will only get worse.

“Have you noticed even in The Philippine Star, columnists use China and India as examples for the Philippines to (emulate). Well if you are communist and not profit-minded, you can give work to millions more in the Philippines. However, what about the Chinese’s one-child policy?

“India has some of the worse cases of poverty as well as families who are extremely rich. India also has an advantage in the high use of English. Here, we can equal them if our kids are given a chance.

“(In) the Philippines, … there are not enough jobs and the pay is bad. … Bad sanitation (is) high on the list (of concerns) where the lack of a simple item like soap causes deaths of children. Here, we would like the Catholic Church to be more involved in.

“Yes, the Philippines is overpopulated when so many thousands of children do not live to reach their fifth birthday. The Catholic Church should come up with ways to stop us from going over 100 million, and not to continue to spout the same old failed message.

“Let’s hope the Catholic Church changes its doctrine on vasectomy and the Philippines can produce more sensible lads like the taxi driver we (mentioned).

“Finally … we are against the need for abortion which some seek as their lives are a misery through living in poverty. The thought of another mouth to feed is far from being a blessing.

“We would suggest the rich Catholic Church considers semi-adoption of children if it wants to play a part in the Philippines of today. ‘Semi,’ meaning taking children temporarily from poor families and then returning them when there is an improvement in the family’s circumstances.

“We hope that members of the (movement for) Pro Life, which not necessary can be termed pro family life, will join the call for vasectomy to become common practice especially in the Philippines. This will at least reduce the number of dangerous back street abortions.”

Any more views from our readers are welcome.

Collegiate Champions League update

The regional championship phase of the ongoing SMART-PLDT Champions League 2008 Collegiate Championship games is about to start after two more competing regions complete the cast of qualified teams.

In the Region 3 (Quezon/Bicol) championship, the qualified teams are the University of Nueva Caceres Greyhounds and Ateneo de Naga University Golden Knights from Naga City; Computer Communication Development Institute and Aemillianum College from Sorsogon; and the Manuel Enverga University and Computer Science & Technolgy-Sariaya from Quezon province.

In Region 9 (Dipolog/Sibugay/Zamboanga), the following teams will dispute the regional championship: St.Vincents College Valiants and Dipolog Medical Center Lifesavers from Dipolog; the Kabansalan Institute Technology and Universidad de Zamboanga-Ipil from Sibugay; and the Immaculate Concepcion School Phoenix and Ateneo de Zamboanga Blue Eagles from Zamboanga Cty.

The CESAFI league is Cebu is starting its best of three semi-final games. In the top four are defending champion University of Visayas Green Lancers, the University of San Jose Recoletos Jaguars, the University of Cebu Webmasters and the University of San Carlos Warriors. The CESAFI champion gets a seat in the elite “Sweet 16” finals, while the runner-up and third placer will go through the zonal championship phase.

For more details about the biggest collegiate basketball event for the year sponsored by SMART and PLDT, visit the official website, www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.