Studies: Pinoy husbands often averse to birth control

( Conclusion )

Several studies have shown that Filipino husbands often dictate what their wives can and cannot do with their bodies. And more often than not, they do not want their wives to resort to artificial birth control. In a 2000 report, the Popcom says, "Husbands tend to view contraceptive as socially unacceptable and potentially damaging to women’s health. They believe use of contraceptives pose more hazards to women than do pregnancies."

It adds that Filipino men are adverse even to natural family planning (NFP) because they want more children. "The pressure to have children is greater on the husband than on the wife," says the Popcom. "Children are viewed as proof of their virility. Men also hold custody of their lineage."

The Commission says that in the Philippines, "women have limited power to refuse sexual relations with husbands," some of whom become violent when denied their "marital rights."

Bacalando says that this is one of the reasons why NFP has not been popular in Paradise. She says, "There are many who try it, but what husband would really wait (for days on end)? Many people also believe a wife is the husband’s property. And there are so many men coming home drunk and forcing themselves on their wives."

The implication therefore is that artificial contraceptives should be an integral part of any government population policy. Yet while there may never be a meeting of minds on the matter between the Catholic Church and population experts, Herrin says teamwork is still possible.

He says the government obviously "cannot expect the Church hierarchy to promote the use of artificial contraception," but that there can be cooperation in support of "socio-economic policies that have fertility and family welfare impacts."

He cites the "principled cooperation" stance adopted by Bishop Antonio J. Ledesma, who has tapped government resources to promote NFP in Ipil, Zamboanga. The Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese of Pangasinan, which is one of the most heavily populated areas of the country, has also entered into a "collaborative partnership" with the local government to provide Catholic couples with viable alternatives to artificial contraceptives.

Herrin adds that the Church’s position that issues of inequality, corruption and injustice must be addressed to solve poverty should not be ignored. "We’re not saying that population control will solve everything," he says. "Having a big population just makes issues like poverty harder to solve. What we’re saying is a slowdown in growth coupled with sound economic policies will help facilitate economic development."

Other experts meanwhile say the business sector, which has been harping on how the country’s population growth rate is impinging on the economy, must be made to shoulder some responsibility for the problem as well. In its 2000 report, the Popcom had also said, "The potential of industry-based clinics is immense. With moderate local and foreign donor funding for public sector reproductive health services, the participation of profit-oriented organizations is encouraged as a way of meeting growing demand."

Teenage sex

Experts, however, stress that the government must once and for all articulate a clear, consistent, and holistic policy on family planning. As it is, current family planning services have yet to fully take into account the issue of adolescent sexuality.

Studies have shown that more and more of the country’s youth are engaging in various types of sexual risk-taking. The East-West Center study says about 87 percent of Filipinos ages 15-24 had their first sexual experience outside of marriage. National data also show that more than one-third or 36 percent of young Filipino women ages 15 to 24 conceive before marriage. Young mothers account for 17 percent of induced abortion cases; six percent of spontaneous abortions and 74 percent of illegitimate births.

"Teenage pregnancies often hinder and in some cases end a young mother’s education," says the Popcom 2000 report. "The direct link between girls’ education and women’s ability to escape poverty are well-understood. Education enables women to respond to opportunities, challenge their traditional roles and change their life circumstances."

The Popcom adds that the only way adolescents can be encouraged to delay marriage and child-bearing is by providing them with "appropriate, accurate sexual and reproductive health education, helping them make informed decisions about their sexuality and stressing the prevention of unplanned pregnancy, induced abortion and sexually transmitted diseases."

Experts emphasize that such education can begin at home, where parents and older relatives are able to have informed and healthy discussions on sexuality issues with their children so that they do not feel the need to experiment or rely on their peers for information.

Claudia said her mother knew she had a 22-year-old boyfriend but never warned her of the dangers of intimacy. The young mother has told the personnel at Mothers that she will keep the child now growing inside her womb. Bacalando says they are trying to give her guidance because Claudia "keeps changing her mind." The only certainty for now is that this child bearing a child still sleeps beside her mother at night in their shanty in the community called Paradise.