Philippines, “new growth engine” of Southeast Asia due to population boom

Growth in manufacturing industry, exports and the young workforce: the keys to this success. Catholic priest: “A strong and robust population is a great resource for the welfare of the country, but the government promotes population control under the guise of eliminating poverty”.

Manila (AsiaNews / Agencies) – A growth of 6.9%, up from 2013; a boom in the manufacturing industry; increased exports by 12% compared to a year ago. These are just some of the factors that make the Philippines the new “strong man” of Asia, at least according to the Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, quoted by Bloomberg.

Presenting the latest data on the development, the politician stressed that the archipelago is no longer “the weak man of the continent” and is instead a candidate to replace Thailand as the engine of growth in Southeast Asia.

The first data analyzed by Basilacan is Manila’s GDP up by 6.9% in the last quarter of 2014, compared to the previous year. The Secretary of Economic Planning says this is thanks to the fight against corruption undertaken by President Benigno Aquino.

He also also cites a ” young workforce ” among the factors that contribute to the development of the Philippines: last year about 31% of the population was aged between 13 and 24 years.

However, Fr. Jerome R. Secillano, Executive Secretary of the Standing Committee of Public Affairs (PCPA) of the Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), points to an inconsistency in the speech made by Basicalan.

“Our leaders – he underlines – consider population growth a threat to our economy, and that population control is the primary solution to poverty in the country. The news of the great development therefore surprises me, because it confirms the idea that a strong and robust population is a great resource for the well-being of our country”.

The priest, who is pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Sampaloc, recalls that a passage of the law on reproductive health “rejects and destroys the idea that human resources can contribute to our economy.”

On 8 April 2014, the Filipino Supreme Court ruled in favour of the constitutionality of the 2012 Reproductive Health and Responsible Parenthood Act. However, some of its provisions were struck down, and the principle of conscientious objection was recognised.

After the law was adopted in December 2012, Catholics groups and organisations had filed 14 complaints against it on constitutional grounds.

In March 2013, the Supreme Court suspended the law for four months, then, in July 2013, for an indefinite period until issuing its final decision.

The reproductive health law bans therapeutic abortions but encourages couples to have no more than two children. In addition, it requires public health clinics to offer free condoms and birth control pills.

The law has the support of major international NGOs, the UN and UNICEF, who view a high birth rate as one of the main causes of poverty.

The Filipino Church, with the support of by many national Catholic associations, has instead always backed the Natural Family Programme (NFP), whose goal is to promote a culture of responsibility and love based on natural values.