Thursday, March 16, 2006
GMA lacks political will: Biazon
Population population management advocates are battling politics for reproductive health ( rh) legislations to prosper.
Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, one of those lobbying for the enactment of the reproductive health bill, is accusing the administration of lacking the political will to implement such laws.
And to think, Biazon said, that President Arroyo is aiming for a 1.9-percent annual population growth in five years from the current national rate of 2.36 percent.
He pegged the current population of the country at around 85 million to 89 million, with two million people added every year.
Urban areas have it even worse, with Metro Manila having a population growth rate of 3.7 to 7 percent annualy, depending on the city.
Choking cities
Cebu City on the other hand, has an annual population growth of 2.9 percent. Both cities show growth rates that are higher than the national rate.
“This shows us that there is a trend of great migration from the rural to urban areas because farmers cannot survive by their means, and the government cannot provide subsidy,” said Biazon.
In effect, this trend of migration is “choking” the cities.
“The country’s economy is not enough to create new jobs that can be made available to migrating workers,” he added.
Population management through legislation will be discussed during the second national conference on Population, Health and Environment (PHE) that started yesterday.
The three-day conference at the Waterfront Cebu city Hotel is organized by the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) Foundation Inc.
Eighteen countries, 70 foreign delegates, 100 organizations and 12 local government units are participating in the convention.
Biazon said many national policies need to be implemented, but their enactment into laws is defined by politics.
“There is much political thought but is not backed by serious political policies,” said Biazon.
He described Arroyo’s aim of a 1.9 percent population growth as wavering because of serious opposition from the Church.
But Roger-Mark de Souza, population reference bureau representative from Washington, said that this must be considered a challenge.
Church’s stance
“The challenge is the more we can link the issues of PHE, the Church may be more willing to engage in the project and to understand the issue,” he said.
Biazon, though, believes that younger priests are for RH legislation but are not willing to come out because of the Church’s stance on the issue.
According to de Souza, disasters such as Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans last year, and the landslide in Brgy.
Guinsaugon, Southern Leyte last month that left 1,124 dead and 3,314 homeless, were exacerbated by human factors.
Global warming caused these disasters, said Dr. Zahidul Huque of the United Nations Population Fund.
“Because of human behavior in the 1990s, over 146 million hectares of land has been wiped out of the global map,” he said. (JGA)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (March 16, 2006 issue)
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