Are we ready for two-child policy?

               

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   Just sharing my double-sided journal on two-child policy if ever
it will be implemented here in the Philippines. (A.R.P. for my English class) (sep. 10, 2007)
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     If our population continues to increase, poverty will also continue to strike every Filipino family, few jobs will only be given, and many people will experience hunger. As of 2007, the Philippine population reached 91, 077, 287, and 40% of this is currently below poverty line, 16.9% are experiencing hunger while 4.2% are experiencing severe hunger (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). The current population growth rate of the Philippines is 2.36% or an increase of 1.8 million every year, which is the highest in Asia. We are currently experiencing a population crisis which made our country occupy the 12th spot of the World’s 50 Most Populous Countries in 2007.

     If we can’t solve this problem, our population will continue to increase, which will result to poverty and severe hunger. We should be alarmed that these effects will become worse if our population growth rate will not decrease. Contraceptives such as condoms and birth control pills are recommended and encouraged by the doctors, who believe that contraceptives are 100% safe and effective. Nevertheless, church officials are against the use of contraceptives and other birth control methods because mothers may only force abortions and ruin couples’ rights to produce more children (Ertelt, 2006). Despite the opposition of the church, a Filipino legislator proposed a house bill in 2004 that will limit couples’ number of children. The House Bill 3773 was proposed to lower down the Philippine population and so that the image of poverty in the country will slowly vanish. House Bill 3773 includes the policy of two children per family, enables the distribution of contraceptives, family planning for couples, and introduces sex education for children as young as 10 years old (Vanderheyden, 2006).

     Since Philippine population continues to inflate, the Congress should agree and re-impose the proposed House Bill 3773 to help slow down the country’s current population and to help fight poverty. However, House Bill 3773 aims to help our country solve overpopulation and prevent poverty.

     House Bill 3773 or “Responsible Parenthood and Population Management Act” was proposed by Albay Representative Edcel Lagman on 2004. However, this will only force abortion and it is also an anti-life policy, which violates the freedom of the couples to decide how many children they want. The proposed house bill 3773 was supported by President Gloria Arroyo, 50 out of 200 Filipino congressmen, and five Filipino senators (D’Agostino, 2004). After numerous of plenary debates in Congress, still, the House Bill was not implemented because church officials and some congressmen disapproved to the said policy.

     The house bill should be implemented in order to address poverty and overpopulation in our country. The purpose of this policy is to regulate our population because overpopulation will only lead to some effects like poverty that will ruin the image of the Filipino people. Actually, there is a connection between poverty and overpopulation. A poor couple, for instance, has five children and they can’t give them a bright future. In this case, their children will also grow in the midst of poverty, and again, they produce a lot of children, which they can’t support them as well. The house bill was proposed because the President has no policy on population control and she tosses the problem of overpopulation to local executives (Rosales, 2004).

     President Arroyo has even promised to curb the population growth rate from 2.36% to 1.9%, so that we will possibly avoid the expected population in 2010 which is 97 million. According to former Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit, “the proposed policy encourages couples to have only two children with a three-year spacing period between pregnancies” (Xinhua, 2004). However, the policy is not a requisite for every couple, but to those couples who would follow it, they will be given some incentives from the government such as scholarship grants for the children. In this way, couples have the option or the right to decide what is best for them.

     There are reasons why couples prefer to have fewer children. First, they said that having many children can cause poverty. Second, they can concentrate to their work and spend less money. Lastly, couples who prefer to have plenty of children say that having lots of children, couples will be pressured in catering the child’s wants. On the other hand, couples who want plenty of children say that having lots of children can bring joy to their lives and help their parents financially when they grow up.

     Opponents of two-child policy argue that using contraceptives and other birth control methods have side effects. IUD and other intrauterine devices work essentially as an abortifacient which causes constant inflammation and infection of the uterus (Anacta-Acosta, 2005). Pills taken by females orally can enjoy sex with their husband because they know that they won’t get pregnant. Women don’t know that there are disadvantages in taking birth control pills. According to Ligaya Anacta-Acosta (2005), “Pills and Depo-Provera can make the uterus dry and barren like a desert in which the baby can’t implant as well”. There are also testimonies of death and ailments from people who use contraceptives, that’s why it is not advisable to always rely on it.

     Philippine population continues to increase. Therefore, the proposed House Bill 3773 should be approved by the Congress and be implemented to regulate the enlarging population in the Philippines. The policy which includes the use of contraceptives has advantages. Contraceptives such as IUD or intrauterine device, condoms, and birth control pills are recommended by the doctors for they are safe and effective. Condoms, for instance, can avoid infection against HIV and AIDS. In Thailand, more than 570,000 are infected with HIV and AIDS and more than 400,000 have died on it (Villegas, 2006). If the House Bill 3773 will be implemented and the contraceptives will be legalized, there would be more factories will be built so that there will also be more contraceptives available.

     According to the opposition, House Bill 3773 or two-child policy violates couples’ rights in producing their desired number of children and the policy may also force abortion. Of course, if the couples follow the policy and the mother accidentally got pregnant, she will have no choice but to abort the baby. According to the Church, “two-child policy is neither necessary nor beneficial or practicable” (Asia News, 2004). The policy will only contribute problems in our country because it may force abortions. In China, they have one-child policy and the Chinese are afraid to have another child because they will pay a fine of 4,000 Yuan. If they will not pay the fine, the police will destroy the door of their house which is a harsh punishment (Bangsoy, 2004). India and Vietnam are also planning to implement two-child policy.

     Two-child policy should be implemented because it will provide some incentives such as scholarship grants for the children and discount for every tax paid each year. Through these incentives, couples will be encouraged to follow two-child policy. It will ultimately give parents an option whether they would choose two-child policy or not (Asia News, 2004). We don’t know, specifically, what the scholarship grants are, but we suggest that is better if the government would answer the 4-year college tuition fee of the child, since our government has lack of funds. If the policy would be given a chance to be implemented, two-child policy will really help those parents who can’t afford to send their children to school.

     Those who are not in favor of two-child policy say that, overpopulation is not the reason for poverty. According to Archbishop Fernando Capalla, “The Church appeals to the government to eradicate corruption and poverty before they attack the sanctity of each family with the control of births” (Zenit, 2004). The government should look for other reasons of poverty before concluding that overpopulation will lead to poverty. Of course, the government would not say that corruption and bad governance will make our country poor.

     One advantage of House Bill 3773 or two-child policy is that it will solve poverty, which is one of the major problems in our country. Poverty is caused by overpopulation, which is what we experience nowadays. According to the House Speaker Jose de Venecia, “Our resources can only afford a small population. The two-child policy is part of my strategy to save our nation because overpopulation will kill them.” (Xinhua, 2004). It is okay to have many children if they will grow up in a good community or in a rich family. In our case, the poor families are most likely to produce a lot of children and they are not sure if they can feed their children thrice a day that’s why we can say that overpopulation can cause poverty.

     Those who are not in favor of two-child policy say that the House Bill 3773 should not include the “reproductive health and sexuality education” or compulsory sex education of the youth because teaching the youth about sex education may possibly lead into malicious acts. Most of the time, students laugh when the teacher discuss about reproductive system, how much more if the teacher talks about sex education. If a teacher talks about sex, it’s as if you’re encouraging the students to have pre-marital sex. The teenagers should be taught about the consequences of having sex before marriage and exercise self-control in every area of their lives (Anderson, 1993).
 
     The proposed House Bill 3773 should be implemented because teaching sex education to students will avoid unwanted pregnancies. Through this, they will become more aware of the consequences and possibilities of giving birth at early age. House Bill 3773 aims to teach students not just sex education, but also family planning and birth control methods so that, students and the youth will be informed of the do’s and don’ts of giving birth.

     To conclude, our population growth rate will continue to increase if we can’t find a solution for overpopulation. Many people in a single country can cause a lot of environmental problems such as illegal logging, deforestation, and global warming. The Filipino people and its government should help and cooperate to solve overpopulation. House Bill 3773 is actually a great opportunity in regulating our population. But, only few congressmen agree to the said house bill.

     If two-child policy would be given a chance to be implemented, there would be clear results or effects that we see in our country. For instance, high literacy rate; students nowadays are huddled in a single classroom and most often they can’t concentrate to their studies. High employment rate could be also an effect of two-child policy because unlike today, there are only few jobs for many people. Since our population is not regulated, the government should be responsible for finding some ways that will decrease our population growth rate.