PopCom urges men to take part in family planning

MANILA, Philippines — Amid the continuing increase in the population of the Philippines, an official of the Commission on Population (PopCom) has urged Filipino men to take an active role in family planning.

PopCom executive director Juan Antonio Perez, in an interview with The Chiefs aired on Cignal TV’s One News on Thursday, said there are existing family planning methods that are available for men.

“Two million women want to stop having children. The only method available to them is tubal ligation. There is a method that their husbands could undertake, which is the no scalpel vasectomy,” Perez said.

“Potentially there could be two million men who could step up and say, we’ll get the snip instead of women having to undergo ligation,” he added.

Perez noted fewer number of Filipino men who undergo the process, which he said could be reversed through microsurgery.

He stressed the importance of pushing for male participation in the family planning process, adding that procedures such as the no scalpel vasectomy would not affect one’s virility and sexual function.

“I feel that we have been neglecting that part of the program,” he said, referring to the promotion of a more active role for men on family planning.

Perez noted that the Philippines – with its population expected to hit 109 million this year – still has one of the fastest growth rates in Southeast Asia at 1.7 percent or about two million per year.

“That has an impact on the resources we need to put on the ground, in terms particularly of health, education, social services… There are also impacts on household income,” he said.

The PopCom executive cited surveys showing that three in every 10 pregnancies in the country are unplanned.

“So about 30 percent of births of the two million, about 600,000 of them were not planned,” Perez said. “Parents should have the ability to choose when to have children.”