“Having less children means having enough to feed them; having more children means not giving one’s children a chance to live!”
by Ducky Paredes
There is no question that the larger one’s family or household is, the larger one’s daily expense for food, fuel and whatever else. Do we need population control?
There is no question that the poorer one is, the larger his family tends to be. There is also no question that Catholics make up only 80 percent of our population and that, of the 80%, only some 80% (or 60% or less of the total population) are practicing Catholics in that they go to mass regularly. Even among those who hear mass on a regular basis, how many actually agree with or follow what the bishops tell them? So, why do we force 100% of our population to live as the Catholic Church wants them to live?
Is this fair?
Senator Francis Escudero urges the Catholic church to step out of population management concerns, saying the church leaders are not exactly the authority to speak on this issue.
Says Chiz: “The Church has the right to express its profession, stand and opinion with regard to population management and reproductive health policy, but the Church and priests are not experts in this field.” Without necessarily agreeing with Chiz that one must be married with children to know how babies are made, I do agree that the less we hear from those who misunderstand the problem, the better we will all be.
Chiz said the answer to the growing population is not “population control” but one where the government should design an “Affirmative Action on the Rights to Information” program.
This “right to information” would give the people accurate and timely information that would help them make the right decisions.
The Social Weather Station (SWS) survey indicates the rise in the incidence of hunger in the country. Some lawmakers say the problem should be blamed on poor population management and not entirely on the government. But, isn’t it the Gloria Arroyo government that disallows us citizens our “right to information” on population control and reproductive health when it allows only information on Church-approved population control methods? Shouldn’t the government give out the correct information and allow the people to use that information as they please rather than keeping information from us because the bishop may not like people to know everything?
The fact is that poor families (who have more children) are more affected by the soaring prices. This naturally results in these families’ skipping more meals and experiencing more hunger than those with smaller families.
“It has already been established that poor families with lots of children tend to get hit hard by soaring prices,” says Rep. Ruffy Biazon.
An administration solon, Iloilo Rep. Jane Garin says “As population increases, especially in the face of unplanned pregnancies, more burden is placed on the parents. Thus, we end up with a government challenged by disasters and increasing fuel costs. It will then be a cycle of survival, ultimately draining us and all of us ending as losers — all because we failed to act when it was still possible.”
Garin says that the people should open their minds on the reproductive health bill they are espousing which has met stiff opposition not only from the Church but as well as from the administration.
Of course, what ought to happen is that officials at the local level (who can win their mayorship, congressional seats and posts as councilor’s with or without the help of the Church) should just unilaterally give out the needed information on Reproductive Health (also known as Population Control).
I cannot believe that our right path is what the Catholic bishops are telling us because, as we have all seen, this only leads to poorer families, less food for all and a country without a future. The God who allowed the Filipino to be born in this world cannot have done so with the thought that the Filipino will become the worst of all beings on His earth – without hope and without a future – all because unlike other nations, his is the one that espouses population explosion as a State policy.
Having less children means having enough to feed them; having more children means not giving one’s children a chance to live!
Why do we still belabor this point?
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When Malacanang proposes that the elections in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) scheduled for August 11, 2008 be postponed so late in the day because it is on the verge of signing an agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), this only shows that the government has no control over the situation in the ARMM.
It is obviously the MILF that is the real power in that part of the Philippines. Thus, whatever it wants, the government will grant, in an effort to seem like it is still a factor in the area. This also encourages the MILF to become bolder and insist on what it wants. Everyone knows that the only possible way to peace in that area is if the armed Muslim elements – primarily the MILF, the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) and the various bandit groups) will agree to lay down their arms.
And the only time they will do that is when the government surrenders the area to them. Otherwise, no deal!
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We have a reaction on our column on a parliamentary system:
“If the Philippines had a parliament, the problems would continue because the Philippine politician is inherently corrupt. Most of them would still protect their party mates to keep the party in control and to save the face of the party. I don’t believe there is one congressman or senator in the Philippines who put the country ahead of personal ambition and pursuit of wealth and power. The parliamentary system will not change anything unless the country is able to change the mentality of those who are elected into power.” -Jake
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I believe that the reason it is that way is that the quality of our senators and congressmen has fallen (as with our whole bureaucracy). Would a President like her get her way in a Senate composed of our storied senators of lore, such as Recto, Laurel, Tanada, Puyat, Tolentino, Paredes, Salonga, Aquino, Pelaez Marcos, Manglapus, etc.?
In a parliamentary system –- where the power will be in Parliament, rather than in the executive department – while politics will still prevail, it will be more enlightened party politics and not the politics of today where position is used only to parlay oneself into more wealth and more personal power.
Under our present system, however, to improve what we need are persons of quality and with the way Pinoys have become, there are just less Pinoys of quality.
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hvp 07.23.08)
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