GMA: Economy growing faster than population

The economy is outpacing the country’s population growth rate and is even "doing a lot better than many other countries in the region," President Arroyo said Friday night.

Fears have been mounting that the country’s growing population could scuttle the Arroyo administration’s 10-point program aimed at easing the wrenching poverty in the country that has forced one of every 10 Filipinos to seek work abroad.

"Actually, even during these hard times we have had, our economic growth is still higher than our population growth," Mrs. Arroyo, a US-educated economist, said in a forum after a speech at the Manila Overseas Press Club’s "President’s Night" Friday.

She cited the average five percent growth of the gross national product as opposed to its 2.3 percent population growth rate.

"Why is this not being noticed? But the truth is that, growth-wise, we are really doing better than many other countries in the region," Mrs. Arroyo said.

The Philippine population stands at 84 million, making it the 12th most populous nation in the world, and has one of the highest population growth rates in the region.

Economists and family planning proponents have warned that the country’s population could double in 10 to 15 years unless the growth rate is slowed down.

This could hamper the government’s efforts to ease the country’s worsening poverty problem because poor families more often have many children and the poor make up more than half of the population, they say.

In an attempt to address the population problem, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman has filed a bill aiming to limit couples to two children, triggering a fierce debate.

Critics say it would not work because it was impossible to enforce.

Lagman’s bill encourages couples to limit their children to two by offering them perks, like free education for their children.

In the mid-1990s, the administration of President Fidel Ramos promoted the use of contraceptives over strong objections from the influential Roman Catholic Church, which says contraceptives violate its religious teachings.

Mrs. Arroyo, a devout Catholic, stopped promoting contraceptives shortly after assuming office in 2001 following Church pressure.

However, she has come under increasing pressure from family planning advocates to implement more effective measures to stem the population growth.

Like the Catholic Church, Mrs. Arroyo remained cool to Lagman’s proposal, saying parents should have the prerogative to determine how many children they want.

"I subscribe to the constitutional mandate of responsible parenthood. Of course, responsible parents know how to make decisions about their children," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo took exception to criticism that she was silent about her policy on population control in her State of the Nation Address in July, where she unveiled a 10-point program aimed at easing the plight of the poor.

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. initiated legislation shortly after the address, proposing a tax incentive to couples who plan to have only two children as a population control measure.

Mrs. Arroyo said she would keep out of the debate. "We have a moral stake in this but we respect the wisdom of Congress and the views of our local leaders," she said.

The President earlier conceded that the population issue was not high on her agenda. "My priority now is not to deal with overpopulation to overcome the challenges we face in social justice and economic development, but to do directly to the social and macro-economic issues that strike at the root of these challenges," she said.

‘100 Million In Seven Years’

In another development, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said the country’s population could reach the 100-million mark by 2011 unless measures to arrest the population growth rate are immediately implemented.

Speaking yesterday at the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo Hotel forum in Quezon City, Biazon likened the population growth issue to a "ticking time bomb."

Biazon added that if the population growth rate, pegged at 2.36 percent is not checked, there will be between 160 and 170 million Filipinos by 2032.

The increase in population could place considerable stress on the government’s delivery of basic services such as education, health care, shelter and jobs.

According to Biazon, the problem is more compounded by the migration of people from rural to urban areas seeking employment.

"What suffers? The delivery of basic services to people of urban areas in terms of education, health care, shelter and jobs. I consider our population growth a ticking time bomb," he said.

"If we are going to address this increase in population, according to experts, we need an economic growth of 10 percent. If only we will be

at the same level of Thailand’s economy today. Right now Thailand has a population of 64 million. We are growing at more than 2 million a year beginning this year, he said.

Biazon said that the looming population explosion necessitates the legislation of a national population policy.

It will be recalled that Biazon has penned two bills on population and reproductive health. The bills, Senate Bill 1280 or the Reproductive Health Care Act and Senate Bill 1281 or the Integrated Population and Development Act. Both bills are still waiting approval.

Biazon said that though government cannot dictate the number of children a couple could have, it can instead persuade and encourage couples to limit the number of their children.

"We have to take a look at this and this is the time to consider legislating a national policy. But this policy cannot be an enforcement in the number of children. It should be encouraging the number of children. There is no way we can enforce the number of children," he said.

Biazon cited as example the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, who managed to encourage families to limit the number of their children.

"Under Marcos the population growth rate was lowered to just 2.2 percent. He did not enforce family planning and there was no compulsory sterilization. But he encouraged couples to limit the number of their children," Biazon said. — With Mike Frialde