Pres. Clinton embarrassing pro-RH advocates

The coming of former US President Bill Clinton was very well heralded by TV and newspapers especially that he came at the time that many foreign countries, especially the United States issued travel advisories for their citizens traveling to the Philippines. Well, despite those travel advisories, the former US President came to Manila, even if he only stayed for 12 hours. As the venue was jam-packed, there was no doubt that Clinton wowed his audience!

But there was something that the former US President said that made many people uncomfortable. He said that the exploding population of the Philippines was an economic advantage. This got Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez to make a public pronouncement saying, “Obviously, Clinton can see and understand what pro-contraceptives people refuse to see—that our people, our children and our babies, present and future, are assets and not liabilities.” Indeed, such a statement was very unexpected from a Clinton, especially that his wife, US State Secretary Hillary Clinton is very pro-population control.

Of course Rep. Edsel “Laglag” Lagman, the principal author of the Reproductive Health Bill chastised Bill Clinton saying, “Clinton’s passing statement may be typical of patronizing platitudes heavy by Americans on Third World Countries.” Lagman added, “Those opposed to the RH bills cannot claim Clinton as an ally because he did not explain his sweeping generalization, although he admitted it is taking the Philippines longer than Singapore to realize its potential because Singapore is a smaller country.”

It is obvious that the statement of the former US President damaged the cause of the pro-contraceptives and pro-RH bill advocates. We who are against the RH bill are not embracing Bill Clinton as an ally. What the former US President merely did was to call a spade a spade, that a country with a huge population has an economic advantage over a country with a smaller population, something that Bill Clinton truly believes especially when he was still President of the United States.

When he was elected President in 1993, on May 28,1993 the White House issued a new American Policy on China, making it a Most Favored Nation (MFN) status. I have a copy of that speech where Pres. Clinton said, “China occupies an important place in our nation’s foreign policy. It is the world’s most populous state, its fastest growing major economy, and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Its future will do much to shape the future of Asia, our security and trade relations in the Pacific, and a host of global issues, from the environment to weapons proliferation. In short, our relationship with China is of very great importance.

Yet, twice after Congress voted to place conditions on our favorable trade rules toward China—so-called most-favored-nation status—those conditions were vetoed. The annual battles between Congress and the Executive divided our foreign policy and weakened our approach over China. It is time that a unified American policy recognize both the value of China and the values of America. Starting today, the United States will speak with one voice on China policy. We no longer have an executive branch policy and a congressional policy; we have an American policy.”

Call the former US Pres. Clinton a man who can foretell the future. China 17 years ago was still considered a 3rd world country with nuclear power. But look at China today, thanks to the vision of US Pres. Bill Clinton. If they shunned China during his term, China would be hostile to the US today. Clinton knows that a country with a huge population has a big economic advantage over countries with smaller populations.

The root of our problem is not our population growth, which most politicians behind the RH Bill are trying to pin the blame on. The problem here is too much politics. The monies that should be going to the education or the upliftment of the poor are going to the pockets of corrupt politicians. This is why even candidates of Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) or the Barangay would spend more money than they can earn.

Ask any mayor, congressman or senator how much he spent in the last elections and chances are, they can’t even see you straight in the eye! This is why I have been batting for political reforms that would depoliticize our present democratic system. We don’t have to elect our barangay leaders. We can hire and fire them. We don’t need an SK for the youth, they can become Boys and Girls Scouts. Then this country can save billions of pesos that could go into better education for our people.

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Happy 36th wedding anniversary to my classmate Quito Farraron and his wife Susan. Being married to the same woman all these years comes from true love and devotion.