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Waiting to Explode Each and every one of us, including government, must take a firmer position about our growing population problem. With the nation's current problems, the fact that the Philippines is now 84 million-strong, listed as the 12th most populated country in the world, and growing at an extremely uncomfortable 2.4 percent growth rate, makes us a ticking social time bomb. Possibly, all three babies that are born every minute in this country are already condemned to a life of suffering and poverty. If we as Filipinos had any conscience left in us, this should be enough for us to stop debating and start working. Our statistics are getting worse. Three of five children now live in poverty, one in three is deficient in vitamin A, one in six below age six suffers from neglect, one in three is abused, and one in seven does not have access to potable water. Based on data from the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development Foundation Inc., there are now 5 million child laborers, 1.5 million living on the streets, 60,000 selling their bodies for a living, 280,000 pregnant, 3.7 million of preschool age malnourished, 3.8 million suffering from stunted growth, and 700,000 weak in body and would have a difficult time surviving. We continue to have a high mortality rate for children. This is because 20 out of 100 Filipinos born are unwanted, and only eight are planned. In addition, the Philippines has also about 400,000 fetuses aborted each year. Economics of providing for more with less Economic planners and businessmen see the population problem as one of the biggest stumbling blocks to economic growth. How could they not when about 40 percent of the population now lives below the poverty line, earning P50 or below a day. Add to that, roughly 3.4 million are unemployed and 4.6 million are underemployed. The Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas, an institution that cannot be accused of a political agenda, identifies appropriate population management as an important factor that would ease the pressure on a slow-moving economy. If we want to continue with our merry ways of wantonly bringing babies into this world, we need to double our economy's average growth rate of 4 to 5 percent. Assuming we achieve this level of economic growth, at best our social environment and standard of living will still be as it is now.
Bucking pressure from religious groups, particularly from the Catholic Church and its several appendages, a number of congressmen have filed bills Congress to address the country's exploding population problem. Lagman filed House Bill 4110 proposing to provide incentives to couples that would limit their number of children to no more than two. Following his lead, more than a handful of others authored and co-authored House Bills 1808 and 1809 to establish an integrated population policy and provide for reproductive health programs to slow down the current birth rate. The bills proposed in Congress are not impinging on morals or faith. They only encourage Filipinos to plan their families and have only the number of children that they can raise and rear well. If current tax incentives encourage a four-children policy, what's the basis for the entire hullabaloo if allowable deductions were amended to just cover two children? The real issue We are not advocating the legalization of abortion. The issue is about helping Filipinos make informed choices to prevent unwanted pregnancy that had forced many women to seek unsafe abortion. The issue is about providing for more with less, about children who have to be fed, clothed and schooled. The issue is about Filipinos who are unable to share the meager resources of our economy and have to work overseas and leave their families only to come back and find their homes torn apart because of lack of parental presence, care, and supervision. The issue on population management is so simple. It is people with dogmatic blinders that complicate it. "Breaking Barriers" with Gen. E. B. Aglipay, PNP Chief "Breaking Barriers" on IBC (11 p.m. every Wednesday) will feature Gen. E. B. Aglipay, newly designated PNP Chief and Commander of AIDSOT Force on Wednesday, 25th August 2004. Having one of the longest coastlines in the world, plugging all entry points for illegal drugs into the Philippines is nearly impossible. As modern laboratories are dismantled, several crude cooking plants will sprout underground. The illegal drugs produced will find its way into the market place as long as there are people who will distribute and use them. It is alarming to note, therefore, that a recent study made by the International Labor Organization (ILO) showed that many Filipino youths are driven to drug use and involvement in the illegal drug trade due to the high unemployment rate in the country. With nothing to do, getting into drug use becomes easy. And drug use becomes the first step towards involvement in selling, distribution and production of illegal drugs. The two-year study showed that the drug trade has now become a family business among poor communities in Metro Manila. A high percentage of the work force involved are children with the study indicating that 10 to 20 percent of youth in poor communities in Pasay City, Quezon City and Manila are active in the illegal drug trade. The stark reality facing us is the prospect of having millions more involved in illegal drug trade if President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo fails to fulfill her promise of creating one million new jobs each year. Watch it. Health issues on TV "Isyung Kalakalan at iba pa" on IBC-TV13 News (5 pm, Monday to Friday) starts today with a discussion of the country's health issues. Largely because of the government's huge budget deficit, the country's less privileged citizens are not getting the proper medical care from the state-owned and managed health service system. Compared to other countries in the region, we have the worst health figures. Worse, our people are dying because of illnesses - diarrhea, bronchitis, pneumonia, and hypertension - that are curable by current day health science standards. What can this country do to stay alive in spite of government's financial problems? Watch it. Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 4th Floor, 156 Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at reygamboa@linkedge.biz. If you wish to view the previous columns, you may visit my website at http://bizlinks.linkedge.biz.
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