Philippine food crisis stirs debate on birth control

Philippine food crisis stirs debate on birth control
By BRUCE WALLACE

MANILA, PHILIPPINES -- Ask Josephine Gonzalez how many children a family
should have and the thin 31-year-old mother answers without hesitation.
"I only wanted three," she says, trying to soothe the naked baby boy
who tugs at her ragged dress.

But Gonzalez is, in fact, a mother of six. Her sister Angie Maquiran,
two years older, has seven children. Together with the fathers, the
pair are raising their families in a public park across the street from
one of Manila's oldest Roman Catholic churches, sleeping on the ground,
their possessions stuffed into a small cart that marks where home is.

Maquiran says the priests at the church tell her, "Children are riches,
and the more you have, the more blessed you are." But health officials
and some politicians here say that the Philippines has too many poor
mouths to feed, an overpopulation problem that condemns millions of
children to poverty.

Population size is an issue of perennial debate in this predominantly
Catholic country, which has seen its population jump to 92.5 million
from 60 million in 1990. But the situation has become more acute amid
this year's global food crisis. With the price of rice soaring, the
poorest Filipinos are faced with spending more of their minuscule
incomes on food or going hungry.

Some blame church

Critics lay some of the blame on the family-planning policies of
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who has sided with the church in its
campaign against any form of artificial birth control.

"Those of us who study population have seen this food crisis coming for
30 years," says Dr. Alberto Romualdez, head of the graduate school of
health at the University of the City of Manila and a health secretary
under former President Joseph Estrada. "Already these people couldn't
buy enough rice. Now we are having more babies born to those who can
least afford it, and unfortunately one of the main reasons is the
Catholic Church."

The church rejects that its anti-contraception activism is responsible
for the high birthrate, citing the 2007 census, which showed the rate
of annual population growth dropping to 2.04 percent last year from
2.36 percent in 2000.

"We accept that the growing population is a problem, but the facts are
that when a country is poor, you will have more children," says Msgr.
Pedro Quitorio, spokesman of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the
Philippines.

"We had almost the same number of people this time last year and there
was no rice crisis then," Quitorio says. "Give people a job and the
population will drop."

Church blames attitudes

The church successfully has fought to end campaigns by nongovernmental
organizations to distribute free contraceptives and advice about
artificial methods of birth control.

Although wealthier Filipinos can obtain contraceptives through private
clinics, the main program for free contraceptives run by the U.S.
Agency for International Development is being phased out by year's end
on government orders, raising fear that the birthrate will jump when
stocks run out.

So far, Arroyo has shown no inclination to change her government's
policy of urging natural family planning. And church leaders claim that
attitudes toward sex, not a lack of condoms, are the reason for the
higher birthrate among the poor.

"It is stretching the imagination to say our teachings have that much
effect on people," Quitorio says. "The people have their own religion.
Even if you dropped a batch of condoms in the barrios it wouldn't make
a difference, because sex is recreation for the poor.

"They have no TV, no movies, they don't read," he says. "They have
guitars and they drink. And when they drink, condoms have no place."

On the streets, the father of Gonzalez's six children laughs and agrees
with the priest. The only time men here use a condom, Edwin Lihay-lihay
says, is when they are having sex with a prostitute and fear they'll
contract AIDS.

Battle for information

Others say that the debate over which came first, the poverty or the
overpopulation, is a distraction from the public health issue.

"Look, I'm not so sure we have too many people," says Sen. Chiz
Escudero, a popular young politician often cited as a possible 2010
presidential candidate.

"Other countries have controlled their population growth and ended up
with a problem of aging populations.

"Good for them. They're rich and they can hire Filipino nurses to look
after them.

"But we need to frame this debate as one of access to information, " he
says. "Governments have a duty to inform their people about health
issues and choices. What if a Muslim woman here wants to learn how to
protect herself from getting pregnant? The Catholic Church can't tell
the government it is not allowed to give her health information. "