Gov’t pressed on population problems

MANILA, Philippines — Civil society organizations Thursday urged the government to step-up programs to address problems spawned by rapidly increasing population not only of the Philippines but in other countries around the world.

Benjamin de Leon, President of Forum for Family Planning and Development, made the call as the country’s population, which is now 94 million, is estimated to reach 101 million by this year.

De Leon’s call also comes a few days before the global commemoration of World Population Day.

He said there are many ways to address the alarming problems related to population, including the immediate passage of the controversial Reproductive Health Bill (RH) 4244.

“I have been in the population and development field for the past 40 years and since then, we have been pushing for more sustainable population and development programs and policies. Our health situation, the state of our environment, our economy, the future of our children and youth and our development as a nation are all linked,” De Leon said during the World Population Day pre-event press conference and launch of the World at 7 billion campaign.

“One solution is the immediate passage of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill that will directly address our high unmet need for family planning, high infant and material deaths growing HIV/AIDS cases, high incidence of teen pregnancies, poor access to maternal and child health services among others,” he added.

Based on the 2010 Revision of World Population Prospects, the official United Nations population projections prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the world’s population is projected to reach 7 billion on October 31 of this year.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona, who attended the press briefing, said the Aquino administration is very much committed in ensuring that the welfare of Filipino families will be safeguarded.

He said that the position of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on the issue regarding the RH Bill is that he is against abortion but is supportive of responsible parenthood. –FRANCIS T. WAKEFIELD, Manila Bulletin