MANILA, Philippines—This year, the country’s population growth rate has been pegged at 1.9 percent.
The government needs to bring it down further to 1.3-1.4 percent for the population to stabilize, said Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral yesterday.
This could be achieved, Cabral said, by employing, among other strategies, an “intensified family planning campaign” that focuses on an “improved quality of life” for Filipino couples.
“Life can be better when couples plan for their future,” she stressed, speaking during the launch of the Department of Health’s new family planning communication strategy.
“Information is crucial in helping men and women make the right decision for their families,” she said.
Backed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the DoH drive calls for the dissemination nationwide of posters, brochures and other information materials bearing the motto “Plan your family, plan your future.”
“USAID has been a partner of the DoH in the family planning program of the department for more than 30 years now and we are committed to continue supporting the DoH’s health programs in the years to come, such as this campaign,” said Roger Carlson, USAID deputy mission director.
Cabral said the posters and print materials were the “first of a series of communication collateral on family planning” that the DoH would be employing.
“We’ve visited many barangays and interviewed many couples who have expressed their need for proper information (on family planning),” she said.
Citing the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey of the National Statistics Office, Cabral said that “eight out of 10 married women who have not used any family planning method did not receive any information on the matter from government health workers.”
She expressed confidence the new DoH drive would help disseminate “key messages” on the benefits of a smaller family size.
In an earlier interview, Cabral said the government’s family planning program “has not been as successful as we would want it to be.” –Jerry E. Esplanada, Philippine Daily Inquirer
June 2025
Philippine Environment Month!
“Action for Nature, for the Future!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
1 Jun – World Day of Parents
5 Jun – World Environment Day
7 Jun – World Food Safety Day
8 Jun – World Oceans Day
12 Jun – World Day Against
Child Labour
15 Jun – World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
16 Jun – International Day of Family Remittances
17 Jun – World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
20 Jun – World Refugee Day
25 Jun – Day of the Seafarer
27 Jun – Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day
Daily Observances:
First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines
