EDITORIAL - GMA’s population program

As of May 1 last year there were 75.3 million Filipinos, according to the National Statistics Office. The country’s population is growing at an annual average of 2.3 percent – an additional 1.7 million people. That’s 8.5 million more people in just five years, or 17 million more by 2011. Each of those people will be needing food, water, shelter, health care, education. Later they will need jobs.

Can the country absorb such a population growth rate? After all, the country still has enough open spaces. And it has been said often enough that a nation’s best resource is its human component, which is why developed countries with near-zero population growth rates are now trying to reverse the trend.

Development in this country, however, has been confined to only a few areas and has failed to keep up with the demands of population growth. Poverty and slow rural development have fueled urban migration. You can see the results not just in Metro Manila but in other cities: squatters, street children, traffic, high crime rate, water lack, garbage. Basic services such as education and health care can barely keep up with the nation’s requirements.

At this stage of development, the nation clearly needs an effective population program. But successive administrations have not pushed aggressively for family planning, avoiding confrontation with the Catholic Church which opposes all forms of artificial contraception. Juan Flavier actively promoted the use of condoms and other forms of artificial contraception during the Ramos administration, but he became too hot to handle and was later eased out of the health portfolio. Even Joseph Estrada, used to constant criticisms from the Catholic Church, did not risk a head-on collision.

Now it’s Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s turn. Last Friday, National Women’s Day, the President said she would soon issue an executive order defining her administration’s policies on responsible parenthood and population control. The policies are embodied in a framework plan for women which took a year to draw up and will likely need another year to be implemented. The President is known to be a devout Catholic and has enjoyed the support of the Church since her dramatic rise to power. She can draw on this reservoir of good will to implement an effective population program.