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By Rommel C. Lontayao, Reporter
Former President Fidel Ramos on Friday
criticized the Arroyo administration for its inefficient population
control and family planning program, blaming the “ambiguousness”
of President Gloria Arroyo on the issue.
“The government’s family planning program
reflects the gross inefficiency of the weak Philippine State,”
Ramos said during a forum held in Mandaluyong City in observance of
the 2008 World Population Day.
“Even President Arroyo initially issued
confusing statements on her government’s family planning policy.
Oddly, although she had admitted using pills in her early years as a
wife and mother, she has rejected government’s purchase of
contraceptive supplies, and has also passed on the responsibility of
family planning programs to local governments,” he added.
The former president said President Arroyo is
apparently serving the interest of the influential Roman Catholic
Church in allowing natural family planning as the “only acceptable
mode of birth control.”
“Under the guise of ‘responsible
parenthood,’ mothers’ lives and health, together with those of
their babies, are now being put at risk for political expediency and
religious narrow-mindedness,” he said.
Dare to represent the people on the issue Ramos
recalled that when he was elected president in 1992, he “dared
face the disapproval of the majority Church when [he] embarked on a
pro-active family-planning policy as part of a vision for a better
future for Filipinos.”
After all, he said, “any Philippine president
must represent the interest and welfare of Filipinos—regardless of
what religion he or she may profess.”
During the World Population Day forum,
participants discussed the direct relation between the problems
concerning population, poverty, food and health.
Studies done here and around the world confirm
the link between family size and poverty. In the Philippines, the
most intense phase of the research, as Ramos shared, was done during
the 1960s and 1980s.
“A common conclusion was that rapid population
growth was more likely to hinder than to foster economic
development,” he said.
A recent study by the Asian Development Bank
showed that only 23.8 percent of Filipino families with four
children are poor while 48.7 percent of families with seven children
are considered poor.
As of August 2007, the Philippines’ population
stood at about 88.6 million with a growth rate that translates to
three babies born every minute, which is one the highest growth
rates in the world.
Ramos thus called on the government officials to
“dismantle the bureaucratic barriers that prevent Filipinos from
exercising their universal right to make informed choices about a
better future for their families and the quality of their lives.”
Likewise, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive
Director of the United Nations Population Fund urged “all
governments to ensure universal access to reproductive health by
2015 and to back up this promise with political commitment and
financial investment.
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