NEDA chief urges full implementation of RH law

by Catherine Talavera (The Philippine Star), Sep 9, 2018

MANILA, Philippines — Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia is urging the full implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law for the country to reach its demographic dividend period by 2022 to 2025 and lower poverty incidence.

The demographic dividend refers to a period of accelerated economic growth that may result from a rapid decline in a country’s fertility rate and the subsequent change in the population age structure.

This is also characterized by a bigger chunk of working population versus dependents.

Total fertility rate was registered at 2.7 births per woman in 2017, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Pernia said the country is already behind its neighbors such as Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam in terms of reaching the demographic dividend period.

“It’s alarming in the sense that we are really late in the ballgame,” Pernia, who also heads the National Economic and Development Authority, said in a radio interview Friday.

He added that the full implementation of the RPRH Law could accelerate the movement to the demographic dividend period as it may lead to lowering of the country’s fertility rate.

Pernia said the full implementation of the RPRH law will bring down the unmet need for family planning in the country.

“If we can reduce that rapidly, preferably to zero, then that will bring us rapidly to the demographic dividend period,” Pernia said.

He added the government must be aggressive in implementing the RPRH law by providing better access to family planning services and contraceptives.

Pernia stressed the need to also educate Filipinos on the benefits of planning and managing families.

“The fewer the children the easier to invest in all of them and give them good education,” he said.

The socioeconomic planning secretary earlier said the full implementation of the RPRH Law, especially at the local level, could bring down the country’s poverty incidence to as low as nine percent.

The Duterte administration is targeting to bring down poverty incidence to 14 percent from the 21.6 percent in 2015.