Arroyo steps into birth-control minefield
By Marites Sison

MANILA - When Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said this week that her government would promote "birth spacing" and use "modern technology" in its family planning strategy, she boldly stepped into a political minefield in this Roman Catholic country.

Her remarks alarmed the Catholic hierarchy, but excited groups who thought that she was dinally grabbing the population bull by its horns - a sensitive issue in a country where the extremely influential Catholic Church has steadfastly stalled governments and politicians from encouraging the use of artificial methods of contraception.

In her remarks last Sunday, Arroyo also for the first time publicly acknowledged the link between poverty and population, hence the mixed reactions to her statement. Immediately after her announcement, made as bishops and thousands of Catholic laity were ending the 4th World Meeting of Families here, concerned bishops asked Arroyo if her use of the terms "modern technology" and "informed choice" meant she had abandoned her opposition to the use of artificial contraceptives - as well as abortion.

A devout Catholic, Arroyo had earlier stated that her government supported only the Church-based natural family planning methods, such as withdrawal and rhythm.

Those concerned with the country's runaway population now at 80 million and projected to double in 2025 - hailed Arroyo's announcement as the "birth of a new population policy". "Could she mean business, finally coming to grips with the church over this vital issue blamed for the country's poverty?" asked columnist Willy Ng of the national daily Manila Bulletin. "Since she will not be running [in the 2004 presidential election], the Catholic vote such as it is must hold no fears for her and she can, as she promised, do what is best for the country free to disregard all forms of pressure," he added.

Arroyo expressed alarm over the country's high population growth rate of 2.3 percent annually and pervasive poverty, particularly in the countryside.

Former health secretary Alberto Romualdez said the announcement was "simply a reiteration of the present [health department] family planning program of focusing on 'natural family planning methods' approved by the Catholic Church".

Arroyo had announced a more aggressive nationwide fertility awareness education program to be conducted with Couples for Christ, a Church-backed group opposed to artificial contraception. The fertility awareness information campaign, she said, would help couples decide how to have "the right number of children that they can afford to raise in dignity".

But Romualdez, a former World Health Organisation official, said, "Fertility awareness and family planning are buzzwords used by pseudo-liberal Catholics who pretend to sympathize with the plight of the poor families with many children but who support the archaic views of conservative Catholic leaders regarding sex, reproduction, and birth control".

"This hypocritical stance accounts for the absence of any definition

of what is the right number of children and what they mean by raising children 'in dignity'," he added.

A survey by the government's Population Commission has shown that majority of Filipino couples want one less child than they now have. The average Filipino family size is four to five children, with a few having as many as 13 children and more.

In response to the Catholic officials' query, Arroyo clarified that she was not advocating the use of scientific contraceptives and that the "modern technology" she was referring to was a new way of propagating the natural family planning method.

"Abortion will never be a part of any family planning program of our government; it's also against the constitution. What the [Arroyo] meant by responsible parenthood was a birth spacing of two to three years. She was re-stressing this," said Population Commission executive director Tomas Osias.

Osias conceded there is nothing new in Arroyo's statement, except for her acknowledgement - belated it may be for an economist like her - of the link between population and poverty. "The country will have a chance of reducing poverty when couples attain their aspiration to have the number of children they want. If all couples realize this, it will be a good start for a better life," he said

Population experts have long argued that rapid population growth undercuts social progress. But Catholic leaders argue that graft and corruption are the ones responsible for the burgeoning underclass - 40 percent of Filipinos, or 32 million people, live below the poverty line of US70 cents a day.

Whether the latest pronouncements by Arroyo, who became president in 2001 after a popular uprising, will have an impact on future population policy remains to be seen. "Regrettably, because it is unelected and probably unelectable, the administration does not have the political will to implement a full-blown program that will reduce total fertility rate to levels that can really slow down population growth rate," Romualdez said.

"There is still no clear government policy on reproductive health that's independent of political or sectoral pressure," said Jose Antonio Perez III, director of Friendly Care Foundation Inc, which provides health care to low-income families in greater Manila.

In 1969, the dictator Ferdinand Marcos enacted a strong policy to curb population growth. But this was abandoned under the government of Corazon Aquino, swept into power by a Church-backed "People Power" uprising. Aquino's successor, Fidel Ramos, a Protestant, tried to promote the use of artificial contraceptives as an option, but his proposal came under scathing attack from the Church.

Critics find Arroyo's Church-friendly population control views out of step with what is actually happening on the ground. A survey by the National Statistics Office showed that contraceptive use increased from 31.1 percent in 2002 to 35 percent last year in 2002. "Thirty-five percent of currently married women are reported using modern family planning methods such as pills, condoms, female sterilization, male sterilization, IUD, injection, diaphragm/foam/jelly/cream, temperature or standard days method this year,'' the statistics office reported.

(Inter Press Service)