Senator chides DOH officials on contraceptives

I do not understand why, in God’s name, Senator Vicente Sotto thinks the burgeoning population in this country is fiction rather than reality. He describes it as mere “myth.”

How could it be a myth when in the 1950 statistics both countries, the Philippines and Thailand, had a population of 20 million.

Now 60 years after, the Philippines has a population of 94 million and Thailand, 67 million!

If this won’t jolt the comedy-actor cum senator of the realm, I don’t know what will. For sure this disparity of having 27 million more is not a laughing matter. On the contrary, it should be taken seriously as we can see now how far up Thailand has gone and how far down we have retrogressed.

During those times, a comparison of population growth was made for the Philippines and Thailand. A family planning method was developed in similar stages that saw Thailand following it strictly and ‘religiously.’

Unfortunately, the Philippines did not, as the Church, even then, had always the propensity to harass and intimidate the political leaders and the faithful, making the politicians abnegate that which runs counter to the religious teachings and beliefs.

And so it was that after the experiment some years later, with Thailand having a contraceptive use rate of about 65% and total fertility of 2.1, it was recorded that Thailand had a population of 57 million, while the Philippines had 7.4 million more people.

On top of this discouraging reality was that the economic development of Thailand had gone by leaps and bounds, leaving us far behind in our turtle-pace economic growth.

Even Vietnam, another ASEAN country, which has been devastated by war in the late 60s, is fast catching up with us.

And so my question to Senator Sotto is: Haven’t we learned our lessons yet?

That economic development is tied up with population control can never be an argument, for it is true.

When population growth is outpacing economic growth by long strides there could never be progress in this country.

Let us not put our self-interests and false beliefs ahead of what is good for this country. Our unfortunate countrymen who are impoverished deserve a break and it is only government that could make a welcome difference in their lives.

Senator Sotto and company should seize this moment and show compassion and backbone in supporting President Aquino’s government in its sincere and humanitarian drive in uplifting the lives of the poor in terms of responsible parenthood. Instead of chiding, giving moral support to the Department of Health (DOH) officials is what is needed.

We respect the stand of the Church, but we should respect more those who are mandated to govern and look upon the welfare of the country and its people.

PNoy acts to curb population growth

I always believe that the state knows best what is good for the country and the church knows best what is good for the soul.

It is simply because of the multifarious knowledge and professional expertise of the people running the state that I harbor this belief. In the same manner, no one shall ever question that the church has the sole prerogative to talk about salvation of the soul.

It could never be the other way around and neither shall meddling in the affairs of one bring forth peace and harmony amongst those concerned. On the contrary, it will only bring discord and ‘ruffled feathers’ which creates, in turn, divisiveness even among citizens.

It has happened in the past and it is happening now, especially on the issue of population control.

The church which wields considerable influence in the Philippines, where more than 80 percent of the population are Catholics, has been using its clout, especially among the politicians, to oppose the passage of a proposed law, first introduced in 2008, that would require the state to provide its citizens with “natural and modern family planning” means.

Because of this stiff opposition by the church, it has allowed the country’s population to balloon to around 94 million in 2010 making it the 12^th most populous nation in the world. For a better perspective, during the 2000 census there were only 76.5 million Filipinos.

It is in this context, therefore, that I am delighted to know that President Benigno Aquino is stamping his own brand of leadership and exercising the most needed political will in announcing that his government will provide contraceptives to poor couples that request for it.

In an impressive and momentous departure from where his predecessors stood, including his own mother, the late President Cory Aquino, he has now defied the will of the church realizing that a continuing population growth is anathema for a third world country who wants to get out from the morass of hunger, poverty, and disease.

“I believe the couple will be in the best position to determine what is best for the family, how to space (the births), what methods they can rely on and so forth,” PNoy said at a town hall style meeting with expatriate Filipinos during his visit to the US to attend the UN General Assembly in New York.

“They face the responsibility for the children that they bring in and government is willing to assist them.”

These pronouncements are sure to enrage the Catholic Church hierarchy, but coming from the President of the Philippines, whose mantra during his campaign was service to country and people, his stand should be respected for his voice is the voice of the majority of the people, too.

WE ARE THE PROBLEM

(Note: This article has been posted first in my About page. I have decided to post it in my regular blog ,as well, so I could tag and categorize it. My objective is for more  people to  read it from different tags and categories and for them to understand that it is not so much the global warming- as the pundits want us to believe- that is causing havoc to the Philippines, as it is us, our attitude and character as people, who are much to be blamed.- Quierosaber)

The continuous heartrending news appearing on TV about the rain, flood and landslide victims are so emotionally draining that, perhaps, one is justified in questioning God, “Why?”

I think, however, it is not for us to question God. But, surely, it is for us to question ourselves: What is wrong with us? What have we done?

Before we attempt to answer the questions we are asking ourselves, let us try first to find an answer to this general question: Is global warming occurring?

The reason why we have to find an answer to this general question first is because almost everybody has been attributing these catastrophic events happening to the country to global warming.

Experts say there is no evidence, whatsoever, to support claims of global warming.  They say anyone who tells you that scientific research shows warming trends – be they teachers, news casters, Congressmen, Senators, Vice Presidents or Presidents – is wrong. There is no global warming.

On the contrary, scientific research through U.S. Government satellite and balloon measurements shows that the temperature is actually cooling – very slightly – .037 degrees Celsius.

Scientists say changes in global temperatures are natural. There is no proof that temperature is affected by anything that man has done.

In fact, they say, that recent severe weather has been directly attributed to a natural phenomenon that occurs every so often called El Nino. It causes ocean temperatures to rise as tropical trade winds actually reverse for a time.

The resulting temperature changes cause severe storms, flooding and even draught on every continent on earth.

Scientists claim it’s completely natural. El Nino has been wreaking its havoc across the globe since long before man appeared.

What do experts say about the reports that the polar ice cap is melting?

Well, yes it is, they say. In fact, it has been for about a million years or so. “We are at the end of the ice age in which ice covered most of North American and Northern Europe.”

The truth is, someday humans may be able to take tropical vacations at the North Pole – and it will be perfectly natural.

If it is natural, why then is the world being flooded with the dire predictions of global warming?

Is global warming a hoax?  This is still being debated until now and only time will tell if it is.

So, if the heavy rains, flash floods and landslides are not resultant of global warming, but a continuing cycle of climate change in this country, why is it so devastating and catastrophic now?

What we see around us may start answering the questions we are asking ourselves.

What is the country’s population now? What is the poverty level of this country? How is government protecting the forests from illegal logging? What is the government’s plan for the poor families living in natural channels that allow water to flow to the sea? What is government doing in regulating land use for residential settlements and commercial purposes? What is government doing in curbing population explosion? Why does government allow the Catholic Church to meddle in state affairs? What have we, collectively, done to the environment? Why do we keep on supporting people to run the government that have nothing but greed and personal welfare in mind alone? Why do we always have to vote for the wrong public servant, putting him or her in the wrong place every time?

Think about all these questions because in reality we, ourselves, have only to be blame.

It is about time we rise above ourselves and do well our duty of cooperating and following the laws of the land. It is only in doing these that we may be able to hold the politicians and the high ranking members of the Catholic Church hierarchy accountable for their actions.

The separation of State and Church must be respected. We have enough measures to protect the environment, the country and its people. What is simply needed is for government to muster enough courage to implement the laws strictly no matter who gets hurt.

PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT, BUT WHAT ABOUT POPULATION CONTROL?

Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal’s exhortation for people to plant trees and protect the environment is never too late.

The tragic scenes we all have been seeing lately, brought about by rains, floods and landslides are so bizarre and pathetic that it all points to government apathy,  people’s total neglect of the environment and overpopulation.

These heartrending events that started when tropical storm Ondoy (international codename Ketsana) unleashed a month’s worth of rain in Metro Manila and its adjoining provinces resulting to the worst flooding this country had in 40 years, then followed by the slow-moving typhoon Pepeng (international codename Parma) that brought in more rains, have already displaced many families, ruined crops and properties and raised the death tally to over 600.

There is no better person, therefore, to make an appeal to care for the environment and forewarn the people to heed the signs of the times than the good Cardinal himself. An act of God can be better verbalized by, supposedly, a true servant of God, and he, too, can adequately articulate what God wants in return.

Cardinal Vidal’s plea to plant more trees should be listened to and taken to heart by corporations, civic societies and every concerned individual, and by government itself, both national and local. His expression of concern over the indiscriminate throwing of garbage is laudable that everybody should heed.

But, the good Cardinal and the Catholic Church should also realize that the burgeoning population has something to do with the debacle that has befallen this country in the last two weeks. Sad to say it is the poor segment, which comprises the greater number in our society, that is putting pressure on the country’s current situation and is the segment that suffers the most when tragedy of this nature occurs.

As deforestation increases the loss of soil by erosion and adds to the silting up of rivers, creeks, canals and other waterways, so does the poor families, who has no where to go but to squat on river beds, creeks, canals and other waterways, contribute to the ominous disaster when their existence hinders, if not diverts the flow of water from these natural channels to previously dry lands especially during heavy rainfall.

The circumstances becomes even worst when you have an inept government who can’t seem to regulate the land use for settlements, roads and farmlands and has ineffectual management policies on dam maintenance.

The condition becomes even more frightening when you see the volume of garbage strewn all over and collected.

Inept government, unmindful citizenry and over population are good recipes for adversities in a poor country like ours.