Business groups and non-government organizations on Saturday urged Congress to craft a population law aimed at poor Filipinos, who comprise the country's majority and supposedly contribute most to its high population growth rate. The groups, led by Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Center for Population and Development, on Saturday proposed a measure which seeks to “empower the poorest and least educated parents" to choose which family planning methods they want to use. “Population growth is happening among the poorest of the poor," said former Senator Vicente Paterno, chairman of the committee pushing for the bill in Congress, in a press briefing in Quezon City on Saturday.
Kung bibigyang-pansin ang pagdami ng anak sa mga mahihirap nating kababayan, masosolusyunan ang kahirapan, gayundin ang mga issue ng population growth," Paterno added. (If we focus our attention on the large size of our country’s poor families, we can solve poverty, as well as issues of population growth.)
The former senator, who also held various high posts during the administrations of Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino, likewise said that unlike the controversial Reproductive Health Bill, his group’s proposed measure, which they informally call the “Consensus Bill on Population," limits the distribution of contraceptives to the poorest Filipinos. “Hindi naman tinutukoy ng RH bill na ang distribution ng contraceptive ay para sa mga mahihirap (The current RH bill does not define that the distribution of contraceptives is for the poor)," he said in a separate interview with GMANews.TV. Rather, its aim is “free availability of contraceptives. The RH bill does not distinguish who receives contraceptives."
In the measure they are proposing, he said, the distribution is explicitly “directed towards the poor."
Paterno added that their proposed “consensus" bill requires the government to provide the poor with relevant information and access to “free and informed choice." “This bill seeks to provide guidance for government, not a manual of instruction on how to control the population," he said. The former legislator likewise said that under their proposed measure, the Department of Social Work and Development will determine who will qualify as “the poorest of the poor." The Department of Health, meanwhile will be in-charge of determining which contraceptives will be procured, as long as they are not “scientifically proven abortifacients." Paterno said while it is a “good time" to adopt the said bill, he expects “repudiation" from Roman Catholic bishops who also oppose the RH bill. “It’s a good time to do it… I hope President Aquino will support it. The time is also right in terms of the receptivity of the middle forces to a consensus, because it is clear that the people who have the means are already practicing family planning," he said. The groups have already talked to some legislators who are willing to sponsor the bill in Congress, according to Paterno.—JV
