Rabbit Republic

PDI had a report last week showing a Philippine population of 88.57 millions as of 1 August 2007. Currently, we are now the 12th most populous country in the world, based on a quick look at international survey reports on the web. Pinas is second to Indonesia's 232, 998, 000 (wikipedia; the southeast asian list gives a Philippine pop of 90m) and larger than Vietnam which has been historically more populated. This runs disproportionate to the world's (only) 42nd largest economy, though the traditional tally of gross domestic product does not reveal how the people really enjoy the benefits of their country's--their very own, to be exact--product and services output. We all feel it: the increasingly heavier traffic, noise, pollution and the more pressing concerns of mothers and children's health and the kind of future each one is going to give to the next generation.

I remember the Fibonnacci sequence lesson in math that shows rabbit population doubling with each pair. This is akin to the rapid growth of our population that eats up on fast depleting resources. A ballooning population does not mean that 'malilibog ang mga Pilipino' (it is a given!), it only shows that the government fails to manage its population! Yes, we need to address graft and corruption; yes, the problems of government inefficiency and inutility. But these are all tied up to the nation's population management program that largely concerns reproductive health. Up to now, the national administration only supports natural family planning method that is proven to be ineffective. The most seriously burdened by this problem are the poor, the overwhelming majority! Uuwi sa bahay ang lalake o ang mag-asawa, magtatalik, tapos magbubuntis ang babae kahit hindi na nila ito gusto at kita namang hindi na kaya. This happens because modern methods are not provided to those who need it most. Local government units are left to administer their respective constituents' needs; that is, promote the artifical and more effective methods with themselves parrying the Catholic Church's opposition. I think that the proposal to adopt the rhythm method is hypocritical on the part of the religious for it then allows sex without human reproduction, only that the biological limit--perceived to be natural and the religious/spiritual--is utilized. It is just the same - sex without babies. Sino'ng niloloko?! Only that this is just a myth, according to doctors, reason why our population now mimics the rabbit pack. The Playboy image should use the Philippine map instead on its succeeding releases.

They say that the nation's middle class is expanding, but only in terms of numbers because other government studies show that this class is gradually shrinking in proportion in the national total. Good news: the middle class now plan their families better than before, starting with limiting the number of kids. Bad news: the poor now rapidly increases its numbers faster than the rest of the classes and greater than the national total population increase. Visit the urban poor areas and you see that babies are born almost every day. They also abound with teenage moms and dads.

2:20 am
23 april 2008