THE Bacolod City Council urged the City Population Office (Popcom) and City Health Office (CHO) to prepare and implement aggressive population control programs and strategies to curb the rise of population, teenage and unplanned pregnancies.
Councilor Caesar Distrito, who authored a resolution, said the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) officially reported that as of July 1, 2024, the country’s total population reached 112,729,484 — an increase of approximately 3.69 million from 109,035,343 in May 2020; showing that despite a slight slowdown, the country still grew at a rate of 0.80 percent between 2020 and 2024.
He said continuing population increase demands growing expenditures in public health, education, infrastructure, and social protection, placing greater strain on both national and local government budgets.
He added that teenage pregnancies and unplanned pregnancies remain pressing issues, especially in low-income communities, resulting in higher dropout rates, poorer maternal and child outcomes, and perpetuation of the poverty cycle.
Distrito, chairperson of the City Council committee on human resource and development, stressed that it is well‑established that investments in comprehensive reproductive health services such as access to contraceptives, adolescent education, responsible parenthood, and community outreach can substantially reduce unplanned pregnancies and related public spending.
To address the issues relating to the increase of the population, he said it is imperative to devise and execute aggressive, data-driven population control programs and strategies aimed at stabilizing population growth and lowering incidents of teenage and unintended pregnancies. (MAP)