As of July 2010, the Philippines is the 12th most populated nation in the world with an estimate of 99,900,177 next to Mexico, according to the CIA World Factbook.
Despite attempts to control the population by promoting family planning and the use of contraceptives, the Department of Health (DOH) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has admitted that past efforts made were “sporadic and small-scale.”
This stirred the USAID to conceptualize a program “May Plano Ako” that is in line with the country’s Millennium Development Goal, focused mostly on population control and reproductive health.
In contrast to the limited attempts made by the DOH in controlling the population in the country, the new program will be “unified, national and comprehensive” and will target not only women, but also men and the youth, according to the USAID.
The National Center for Health Promotion (NCHP) believes that the new program understands that by increasing knowledge and forming positive attitudes towards contraceptive use and family planning will be a more effective way to encourage people to use these birth control methods.
In a country that is 85 percent Catholic, however, the issue in population control has been a long-running debate.
The religious sect continuous to strongly oppose the use of any method of birth control believing that the problem lies not in over population, but in the misdistribution of wealth in the country.
Prolife Philippines Foundation columnist and the President of Human Life International, Fr. Tom Euteneuer likewise said in his article, Is the World Populated?, that the real issue of over population lies not in the people, but in the  production and the distribution of resources needed to provide them a decent standard of living.
Meanwhile, according to the DOH, one out of five pregnancies in the country end up in illegal abortions, mostly in unsafe conditions that can lead to maternal deaths.
These “unsafe conditions” are brought about by the decision of fearful Filipino women to forego the risky and illegal abortion because they are afraid to be seen as “sinners” in a country where abortion is banned totally.
Every person is entitled to his or her own beliefs. These beliefs influence a person’s decision in life.
In the case of dealing with life – especially that of an unborn child, every decision made is critical and should be thought of with a sense of responsibility and maturity so as to avoid regrets in the future.(AJPress)
( www.asianjournal.com )
( Published September 3, 2010 in ASian Journal Orange County p. A6 )
