In CBCP News, Archbishop Aniceto, justifying the continued population explosion, claimed that European countries and even the Americans have begun to suffer from a “demographic winter” in which the elderly population significantly outnumbers the younger demographic. He says this as an argument against the Reproductive Health Bill, justifying inaction to current situation where thousands of poor Filipino families could no longer support their children’ schooling or sustenance, simply because there is just too much of them.
For decades, Filipinos have been practicing natural family planning methods such as “withdrawal” and it is simply not working. According to a study done by WEDPRO (Women, Education, Productivity, Research Organization) on family planning methods in the rural areas, women have even resorted to using Coke and toothpaste as spermicides, as well as utilized the rubber in tires as condoms. Many women obviously don’t have access to adequate information, much less the social services needed to make sure that their health is maintained during the delicate time of pregnancy and childbirth.
What this population control debate boils down to, however, is a simple supply and demand dynamic. Supply and demand is the basic law in economics that argues that the precarious balance of supply and demand determines prices. Now, what does this mean for wages? As long as there is plenty of supply, say in a huge population like ours, in a country with fluctuating economic growth and therefore unreliable job creation and job market, Filipino wages will always be kept at a bare minimum. Why? Because the slow growth in Philippine economy simply cannot keep up with the number of people who need jobs. Why? Because in a climate of heightened competition, there are always plenty of people willing to work for less. This means that workers are often easily exploited and taken advantage of. Their rights are not upheld because the boss always has the upper hand –”fail to comply and you can always be replaced; there’s always plenty of you out there.”
Education is a basic right of children, and with parents bringing in minimum wages that simply cannot feed their kids, how can we educate Filipinos, much less make them competitive in an increasingly global market?
What is alarming with Archbishop Aniceto’s rhetoric that it’s okay for Filipinos “to go forth and multiply” as it compensates for the aging population elsewhere. Does it then justify the brain drain and mass displacement of Filipinos going abroad, isolated and separated from their families because they cannot get good well-paying jobs in their own country? How is this, in line with the government’s valorization of OFWs, “preserving and upholding the dignity of the Filipino family”? As it is, many Filipino families are already torn and fragmented –with children left alone here while their mothers go abroad to take care of the children of those in richer economies. If, by withholding effective birth control methods, the Catholic Church’s aim is to keep the Filipino family intact, then it has already failed its objective.
Archbishop Aniceto is right however –some European countries, Canada, and even Japan’s population is aging. But what does this have to do with Filipinos, unless we bring to light the fact that right now, several million Filipinos are out there serving these “aging populations” as domestic helpers , caretakers and even as trafficked and prostituted women?
We can’t allow population to keep booming, and then justify that it’s okay, because we can just deploy Filipinos all over the world and leave them to fend for themselves. We have barely secured the rights of Filipinos who set off and risk their luck abroad. Migrant Filipinos, for instance are scattered in over 180 countries all over the world. As it is, we only have bilateral agreements with around 80 of them.
The Filipino state is a metaphor for our parents, and it simply cannot accommodate such an exponential growth in its children, which, according to a 2007 Inquirer article is about 15% faster than our ASEAN peers. We simply can’t blame it on the bad parenting or “corruption” on the parent’s part. The simple logic is this: if you can’t sustain your children, then you better be prepared to stop having children. The old methods have failed. Unless we do something, our women will continue to be at risk for harassment as servants, entertainers and playthings elsewhere, families will continue to be torn apart, and the wages for many hard-working and persevering Filipinos will never be enough for what they deserve.
Submitted by Cai Mariano
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If the church just promises to take care of all the children that were conceived because the parents refused contraceptives then I’d be ok with it. The problem is that they’re passing the burden to me, the taxpayer, who sees his tax money going to (never mind corruption), say, the construction of public elementary schools instead of improving higher education.
missing the point is really missing the point. the issue of morality transcends parochical concern of resources. if it does, why not kill more people so we can align our resources to our population.
responsible parenting is the key. but the church will be soft on natural contraceptives.
yes you are right cai. the japanese and european example is completely IRRELEVANT to our population problem. Bishop Aniceto is a moron.
here is my favorite pundit, thenashman, aka nash. he loves to insult people and derives distinct pleasure and amusement in insulting people. :)
only nash, or thenashman is endowed with intellect, probity and intellectual savvy denied of all other mortals in the likes of Bishop Aniceto. :)
jcc, don’t feed the troll. let it die through k.s.p. and loneliness. its so-called blog is nilalangaw.
hello jcc, at least i only extort information and I do not charge peopl, and both sides, for it.
that’s not even an insult to call aniceto a moron because his assertion is moronic. i don’t think you should pull your punches.
and unlike bencard, I make no pretensions about my lack of intellect. I gladly accept that, being human, I make stupid mistakes,.and certainly unlike bencard, I tend to be consistent with what I say and believe in. i don’t preach the joys of good governance while licking GMA’s ass anoh.
and yes, while I am short, i am not exactly a troll as my BMI is still within respectable limits.
get your message bencard… thanks for the heads up. :)
hi! quick question: why is the aging population a moronic/bad argument? Doesn’t the archbishop’s observation mean that, even a well-meaning population policy that encourages smaller families can have attendant problems as well (unintended consequences)?
Euphemisms have their, among them making things sound less shocking or politically correct. But the reality, the main issue is to allow the massive use of birth control, right?
Then when discussion degenerates to name-calling or stereotyping the reasoning become beclouded by anger, even hate.
One undeniable truth: the Church has been remiss in taking care of the practical realities and hardships of the flock, leaving Filipino to just keep on muttering “ipapasa-Diyos ko na lang ang problema ko” while its own institutions amass material wealth running schools for the rich and 5-star hospitals.
In the end, pera-pera lang.
This may not be moronic but can we try hypocritical or callous?
For the record, I am Catholic.
Oh did I contradict myself about name-calling?
Erratum:
“Euphemisms have their purpose…”
why are people born ahead would like to prescribe something to one who have yet to be born? philosophically, if the fetus would have a say on his/her intended abortion, would she/he like it?
why are we so passionate about abortion simply because it does not involve our own lives but of others yet to be born? as if we are the only animals in this earth who have the right to eat, breath and enjoy life simply because we were born ahead and those yet to be conceived have no right whatsoever to this earth.
the first in possession first in right principle is a dichotomy of the “lex taliones” principle (law of the jungle), survival of the fittest, but in the case of the unborn, their fitness have yet to manifest and would never become manifest and yet we love to remind everyone of levelling the playing field. :)
those who are against the church are free to leave the church, but those who believe in the teaching of the church deserve no more than the deprecating moniker of being moron, remiss in their duties and irresponsible than those self-appointed genius pragmatist and level-minded invididuals. for if you take a good close look at it, they are simply the kind of people who look at the situation as an issue of “pera-pera” lang iyan.
the church has to do some business because of its ministry. imagine if no one contributed to mother teresa and other philanthropical missions of the church. the world will be a cold cold world to live. :)
“But the reality, the main issue is to allow the massive use of birth control, right?”
The REALITY – PAST Present and Future
how long will the distribution of condoms and other birth control program be implemented. Do we have the capacity and ability of sustaining such program. What happen to family planning? Why did it fail? Who were responsible of implementing and continuing the program. Was budget and direct follow up been done or it was done but then forgotten? This is a failure of system governance and management of issues. Somewhere in the past administration has failed to follow up prevention program and continued family planning. Look at us now. We are already overpopulated. Now we go back to square one. It is obvious that our political leaders in the past have no concept of proper system , no concept of balancing demand and supply. If this was done before, we could be a better country now. There will be few OFW’s. The result of past performances affects the many of us today.
What are the implications of decreasing population in a particular generation? What are programs out there that will enhance the lives to those who are born already.
RH bill is a prevention program. That will take another generation to see result. Let’s not ignore the very obvious problem NOW: who will employ the new born babies when they grow up? Who will send them to school? who will feed them?
The problems we have are hereditary. Risk Factors are preventable. Who could have prevented it?
I think every child born should be loved and wanted, every pregnancy should be carefully planned and willingly, even enthusiastically undertaken. No child born should be an accident of love or lust. But no one is talking about forcing anybody either to have more children or to use birth control. And no one is talking about a decreasing population. that is pure innumeracy and ignorance that is being pushed by Aniceto. At best we can slow down the increase of population.
One factor he ignores in the matter of an aging population demographic is the matter of productivity. Better educated, healthier and beloved children are more productive and can support a better standard of living for everyone. The opposite is tragically true. It is poverty that causes overpopulation, which however is also what perpetuates and exarcerbates that state of poverty. A large denominator sinks all solutions.
I’m with Nash. The argument of Aniceto is moronic. Worse than that, it is a political scare tactic, much like “You will go to hell if you don’t obey us.”
There is after all life after birth, and foetuses cannot support anybody. If they are born to parents who can hardly feed, clothe, shelter and educate them, they will be just as great, if not a greater burden than aging old priests who get their sustenance from Pagcor anyway.
Who are they to dictate who goes to hell anyway? I think God gave us the minds to think, not to follow blindly. Logic was a gift He gave us, and I think it’s time to use it.
Who has the right to sentence children to lives of squalor and deprivation. Do you see the ever increasing number of children sniffing glue and made prostitutes not only by syndicates but even their kin? Has anyone here heard the neologism prosti-tuition?
Has anyone heard about how the incidence of AIDS is severely under-reported? Do you know that even the groundbreaking AIDS sufferers support NGO in Malate has closed down for lack of funds?
the church or Bishop Aniceto got vicious flak from highly illuminated pundits for the exploding population brought about by the reckless copulation of irresponsible couples. in legalesse, this is barking at the wrong tree.
it seems that we love to enjoy sexual pleasure and yet were not ready for the consequences. so when our partner gets pregnant, we should be allowed to get abortion on demand where the church, by virtue of its love for human life, put its foot down, we call its position moronic or its bishop a moron.
or where the church, fearful that contraceptives would lead to the promiscuity of our teenagers and hold the position that the best contraception is abstention or natural method, we again unleash our misplaced indignation where it could have been directed to our “kakabayans” who love to fuck in reeckless abandon.
we see the money of the church from pagcor, but what has that to do with our reckless acts of sexual activities which put us in a bind in the first place?
again with the ABORTION. well, they got to keep it if the fetus got formed. Under the PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION, abortion is still against the law. So please tell me if such a bill CONTRADICTED the laws governing our country.
Promiscuity. I wonder who was supposed to teach our teenagers to veer away from that. Oh yeah. The media. Yes, let’s blame globalization now, you can now access everything with a single click. The world is changing.
I think everyone needs to backtrack a bit to try to look for the reason why we’re talking about this in the first place. Why are there too many people? Why do teens consult explicit material rather than talk openly to their parents about their bodies (face it, teens are curious people)? Why do couples continue on making babies even though they can no longer support any of them? So many questions, but if you can answer some for me, that’d be great.
jcc,
fire prevention is not arson.
pregnancy prevention is not abortion.
The bill does not promote or legalize either abortion or promiscuity, no more than having a fire extinguisher or smoke alarm in your house means you are encouraging the kids to to play with matches.
Contraception is not abortion. That is the shameless lie being peddled by bishops and priests, whose own sexual depravities and rape of minors and children has already cost the Roman Catholic Church 2 billion dollars in legal fees and fines.
It appears they love to fuck too, but insist on hypocrisy and falsehood. If you bother to read the heart rending story of their victims, you would not think mere papal apology suffices. Apparently the courts agree with the victims of these predators in pulpits and funny costumes.
Actually, some contraception methods are abortifacients but not all. A condom naturally isn’t. Sometimes the Catholic church tends to generalize these things. But then, natural family planning isn’t as worthless as some supporters of artificial contraception claim to be. Withdrawal isn’t even considered a NFP method.
Yes, I think we should promote family responsibility but why tout artificial methods as the only effective method of family planning? NFP is free, albeit it may require educating the masses — which is good, as that would enable them to become more aware of their sexual functions and more responsible for it. Why can’t we teach both?
^The aim of the bill is to educate the Filipino population on different family planning methods and it is not, in any way, partial to artificial means.
jcc,
It’s tit for tat. Bishop Aniceto deserves to get vicious flak when he rains down vicious nonsense, and insane dogmas on people he does not realize don’t buy his fire and brimstone baloney any more. All I see when I listen to bishops like him hold forth on religious matters is a clown. An evil, inhumane clown.
All I see when I listen to bishops like him hold forth on religious matters is a clown. An evil, inhumane clown. – djb
Spot on.
And the stupid bishop is not funny anymore.
@jcc
Whose morality? Is the catholic church the final arbiter of what is moral?
the promiscuity of some church members is not an argument that the church is promiscous or for that matter, hypocrite. if our countrymen were ignorant about their sexuality and its deleterious effects (getting pregnant), the church should be the last entity to be blamed.
our population is exploding to a number that our resources can afford, yes, but blame our reckless “fuckers” who love to enjoy sex but are not ready to bear the consequences. blame also the government who failed to educate our “kababayan” and provide them education and later on decent jobs.
while morality is not the monopoly of the church, i won’t entrust my morality to missingpoints, DJB, lovell, nor to Dean Bocobo.
dean bocobo,
i never said that pregnancy prevention is abortion. i even said that the church agree on contraception along the lines of abstention or natural method. fuck your partner when she is not fertile, or by coitus interruptus.
if the purpose of the bill is to educate our kakabayan of responsible parenting or the effects of unrestrained sex, we do not have to pass a bill for that.
just go on tv everyday and explain that to our “kababayan”.
“It’s tit for tat. Bishop Aniceto deserves to get vicious flak when he rains down vicious nonsense, and insane dogmas on people he does not realize don’t buy his fire and brimstone baloney any more. All I see when I listen to bishops like him hold forth on religious matters is a clown. An evil, inhumane clown. — DJB,
this what i like with pundits, they always feel the pulse and heart of the people that they can competently speak for the people. :)
but if you look at Sunday’s mass, Filipinos keep going to their church, while our pundits who claim to be speaking for the people only count for the nods of the likes of lovell, missingpoint, Dean Bocobo, DJB, DingG and some other notable pundit/bloggers.
Ooh, boy! ! !
@jcc
Yes, I blame the people who fuck relentlessly and without regard for the consequences. But unlike you or your church, I won’t stop there. I’m willing to allow the government to spend some of my tax money to provide condoms to these mindless fuckers so that they don’t end up multiplying.
It’s the “defensive driving” principle. What’s the use of having the right of way if you end up dead anyway. You and your church can take the “high ground” all you want but that won’t prevent these fuckers from filling our country with people that we need to house and feed and school and clothe.
Somehow I don’t see you or your church taking responsibility for this. It’ll fall to the government.
not the church, the “reckless fuckers” and the government… as to the government’s right to use tax to buy condoms, that’s one step to the right direction but do not drag the church to support it and when the church won’t support it, don’t castigate the church as if it the pop explosion was the church’s handiwork. when you ask for support and it was not given you should say “sorry na lang”, but not so vicious against the church because you did not get its support, otherwise, you were already blackmailing the church to support your position.
try compelling state interest, jcc. in the end, it is the church that must bend to the republic if the state deems it must, and not the other way around.
JCC,
you are actually an atheist, from the point of view of the billions of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Shintoists, Shamanists, animists, and believers in the Great Spaghetti Monster. You and I are not very different. I just believe in one less god than you do.
Oy Vey! I forgot the Jews. Yahweh is gonna be pissed! Oh vell, Allahu al akhbar!
“For decades, Filipinos have been practicing natural family planning methods such as “withdrawal” and it is simply not working.”
A lot of misinformation really goes around, and the above is one such piece of misinformation. Just because such an act involves no drug, device or surgery, this doesn’t mean it is considered a method of NFP (as also pointed out by Maryse in one of the comments above.
I wonder if anyone here realizes that a woman taking contraceptives is relinquishing her power of self-control. She is letting her lack of fertility awareness (if she is indeed unfamiliar with the workings of her own feminine cycle), her lack of self-control, control her. Instead of her being in control, it is something else controlling her.
Cases involving abusive husbands who come home drunk or stoned night after night have been cited as the reasons that point to the desperate need to equip women with contraceptives to protect themselves. I ask, against what? Against pregnancy
Hmm… my comment was published without my clicking “enter”. Magic… anyway, to continue. What protection do these contraceptives provide women? Protection against pregnancy? Against their husbands? Against being beaten up?
Contraceptives are being presented as the solution to these? That will be effective — if you want to perpetuate this violence against women. It’s telling them, give in, sige lang, tutal hindi ka naman mabubuntis. Wala ka nang magagawa. This measure actually encourages men to be irresponsible, to get sex whenever they want it.
I believe one of the solutions, if this situation is being cited by those who are concerned about women’s welfare as the reason why free and easy access to birth control is desperately needed, is genuine women empowerment. Get them out of the situation. Inform them about the already existing laws/legislative measures against violence against women. Provide them skills-training. Educate them on life principles, character-building and, yes, include fertility awareness and genuine responsible parenting.
There’s no single solution to all the problems that we and our countrymen are facing, but each has to do his part. Share what he has with others, be it material things or knowledge or time. I could be wrong but probably some people who are fervently backing the RH bill for its population control purposes and methods is that doing so would mean less efforts on the part of everyone and less need to share one’s own with others. But being true to the principles of love and charity, and being in solidarity with the poor, would require all of us who have more to give, to part with our hard-earned money and sacrifice some of our time. And that goes way beyond online discussions that attempt to provide answers and theories about the country’s problems and situation.
djb,
after calling Bishop Aniceto a moron, now you call me an atheist. is that your best arsenal, name calling?
Looked up legislation on violence against women. One is R.A. 9262 — the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004.
Don’t we have enough laws, ordinances, and republic acts already? Shouldn’t the emphasis be more on proper implementation and adequate funding of these already existing laws rather than formulating new ones?
djb,
but wait, not only you speak the minds of the Filipino people but even the minds of the billions of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Shintoists, Shamanists, animists who would call me an atheist. :)
sunnyday,
nice observation. contraception will embolden the male chauvinists in us to abuse women because they can always satisfy their lust without worrying about the responsibility that comes with parenting. :)
@jcc
I’m not asking the church to support anything. Just to stop making stupid statements about demographic winter. The church should take a look at its own commandments and stop bearing false witness.
Oh, and there’s nothing wrong with being called an atheist. It’s not meant as an insult.
jcc,
Well, what you described has been happening to some families and it is very unfortunate. However, I’d like to view things in more positive terms, such as couples achieving the opposite — husband and wife both understanding that marriage is a partnership, both exerting an effort to themselves and one another, both understanding their innate dignity, both communicating with each other and respecting each other. And both learning and understanding that sex is NOT a bad thing and that only beings without the gift of rational thought (or those who, for one reason or another, do not use it) engage in it whenever, wherever, solely for pleasure, and without even attempting to understand the “openness to life” factor.
Abuse of women does happen, but probably what happens more with contraception is misuse of a gift.
“…husband and wife both understanding that marriage is a partnership, both exerting an effort to themselves and one another…”
Missed a word there, haha. I meant to write “…both exerting an effort to UNDERSTAND themselves and one another…” :-)
djb,
calling one an atheist is not an insult..
same way that there is nothing wrong with calling Bishop Aniceto a moron because of his moronic ideas.
well your lexicon is out of my league, but as long as you intend no malice, i can accept that. :)
“contraception will embolden the male chauvinists in us to abuse women because they can always satisfy their lust without worrying about the responsibility that comes with parenting”
As opposed to now, when they satisfy their lust without worrying about the responsibility that comes with parenting? :)
The only difference is with contraception, we have no child to worry about. Which leaves the government free to take on the problem of spousal abuse without worrying about childcare.
^ Also, it leaves the wife free to leave her abusive husband without worrying about the children.
“Also, it leaves the wife free to leave her abusive husband without worrying about the children.”
You have a point, but have you considered that with birth control comes side effects of varying degrees? I’m referring to things as “slight” as headaches to more serious consequences such as perforation of the uterus, blood clots and breast cancer. Btw, these are not isolated cases.
With all the emphasis on going natural, going organic and going back to the basics, we fail to share these findings and philosophies with the poor. Let’s say there are no children to worry about as you say, health naman ng nanay ang naapektuhan. If she doesn’t have even that, it means more expenses for care and treatment (sometimes long-term care), decreased mobility and capacity to work.
We aim to help the poor but sometimes along the way, our methods may end up doing the opposite. Sometimes, too, due to the herculean tasks involved in this, we may tend to eventually regard poor people as nothing but a burden instead of the individual persons they are who, just like us, are trying to live life well — not only for themselves but for their families as well.
Are there lawyers here? I’ve been wondering about the implications and possible consequences of one of the provisions included in HB5043. To me the lawyer’s position regarding the bill is irrelevant since it’s interpretation of the law that matters. Here’s the provision, under Sec. 21. (Prohibited Acts):
——————————–
The following acts are prohibited:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e) Any person who maliciously engages in disinformation about the intent or provisions of this Act.
——————————–
“Any person” would include civil servants, ordinary workers, teachers, parents, journalists, to name a few, am I correct?
“Maliciously engages” — who is to determine if the information (whether accurate or not) was engaged in maliciously? The Population Commission? The DOJ?
Let’s say the bill was enacted into law as it is, and a journalist zeroes in on the government’s establishing an “ideal family size” of having 2 children as a subtle way of laying the groundwork for a 2-child policy, given the ultimate goal of population reduction. Let’s say he wrote an investigative piece and it was published in newspapers, and even blogged about the same topic.
Based on the bill (which has henceforth become law), are the journalist’s actions punishable?
The way I see it kasi, the RH bill goes against the principle of “freedom” which some of its proponents have used in explaining why the bill is a good thing. And now this provision which, to me, seems to indicate muzzling the freedom of speech.
sunnyday,
you were looking for a lawyer. you are one. you were correct in your insight that the bill somehow impacts the “free speech” provision of the constitution when it sneaked into the bill as one of the prohibited acts:
“Any person who maliciously engages in disinformation about the intent or provisions of this Act”.
So you and I including Bishop Aniceto can be prosecuted for “disinformation”.
I have not read the entire bill, because I am discussing the moral issue of abortion/contraception in its generic sense, and not in regards to the House Bill in question.
But you could be again correct because the provision you have just cited is “overbroad” and at the same time “vague”. The term “malicious disinformation” is very broad because there was no parameter by which it was defined and vague also because of lack of parameters.
It may suffer additional infirmity of “unfettered discretion” where the determination of “malice in the information” is left to a particular official, Director of Pop Commission or the “Prosecutor”.
sunnyday,
but our legislators have the safety net for those kind of unwanted provisions. the court can purge them but those that are not infirmed, remain valid and effective.
missingpoints,
i cannot comprehend your outlook as the kids being extra baggage that we would be better off without them.
i have three kids and i love everyone of them. read my blog entry bahamas diary, day three.
if there are irresponsible parents the fault is on the parents and the solution must be geared towards making the parents responsible and not to write off the next generation of children.
if there are irresponsible governments, the fault is on the government and the solution should be geared towards making the government responsible.
but as i always say: “people think diffeently”, but that does not make anyone with different view a “moron” and the other a “genius”. from my standpoint, they simply think differently. :)
you and missingpoints are using different wavelengths. stop it. yes, it’s nice to have 3 kids and loving them, but it’s not nice if your husband is not cooperating, and instead of loving the children he created, he goes on and creates some more. i’m not denying that there are good dads like you in the world (happy father’s day by the way) but accept the fact that not all dads are like you.
jcc,
Thanks for addressing my query about “malicious disinformation.” I would think that the bloggers here — and the public in general — would be up in arms about something that would quash freedom of speech and freedom of the press. But nobody seems to mind.
And it sounds to me like this particular provision should not be part of the bill (or any bill for that matter).
For those interested in really looking into the issues and going beyond commenting based on hearsay, a copy of HB5043 can be found here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6076454/HB-5043-Reproductive-Health-and-Population-Development-Act-of-2008
The Filipinos will never get enough for what they deserve. The last sentence was shortened, but it just means that as long as there are plenty of poor Filipinos out there willing to work for less, our wages will never be as high as our other First world Asian or Caucasian colleagues.
Missing points,
I love children. The point is not whether you love children or not, the point is whether people having the children can give them the adequate health care and love that they need. If you keep having kids you can’t take care of, that’s another story. It’s not a matter of opinion, when people don’t have access to proper information, it’s a matter of good government policy.