Whatever people's perceptions are, I just hope that people see that neither the CBCP, nor the CATHOLIC CHURCH, nor CATHOLICISM is the cause of poverty in our country. Actually, this Roman Catholic BOGEY as anti-progress has long been employed as far at least by the time of Marcos, and by the administrations following it. A very convenient way of ASSIGNING A FALL GUY. Fact is that since Marcos times, POP CON (population control) and POP ED (population education) have been staples in various programs and platforms of various Philippine administrations. And, they simply failed big time! And so as to cover for their ineptness, a convenient fall guy must be found: Catholic Church. Come on! The emperor has no clothes, and it wasn't the the fault of the boy who pointed it out that he is naked, that he indeed is naked! If the various Philippine Executives failed in curbing population, they only have themselves to blame. Simply put: Could someone please provide a list of ALL the EXPENDITURES FOR POCON and POP ED since 1966 to the present and let's see if our Executives indeed put their money where their mouth is?
As regards population as a Malthusian bane/burden for progress, I invite people to read develoment economists (e.g., Simon Kuznets, Julian Simon, et al) who say that population is in fact a boon, a PLUS to economic development if handled well. By the way, pundits in European countries like Belgium, Neltherlands, and Belgium have repeatedly said that studies have shown that, UNBRIDLED POPULATION CONTROL is now making its NEGATIVE EFFECTS FELT. Their ELDERLY POPULATION is GROWING FASTER than their BIRTH RATE, and that means that the number of a part of their population which will STOP GENERATING INCOME, because they are already elderly due to age, will WEIGH HEAVILY ON THEIR ECONOMY. Do take note that with old age come CO-MORBIDITIES (chronic diseases -cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc.-, frailty, dementia, etc.) will will further aggravate the said socio-economic burden. Population stock thus have to be REPLENISHED STEADILY so as NOT to DEPLETE the NUMBER OF INCOME-PRODUCING MEMBERS OF SOCIETY, so as to OFFSET THE BURDENS OF NON-INCOME PRODUCING ELEMENTS OF SOCIETY (not only the elderly but also children, the sick, the people with disabilities, people on welfare, and prisons, etc.) Such findings and concerns were also echoed by some academics in Singapore, AND PRECISELY by the ECONOMISTS IN GERMANY WHEN I WENT FOR MY KAS STUDY TOUR LAST OCTOBER 2010 in Dresden and Berlin, and also by a recent special paper made by the magazine "The Economist, 20 November 2010). Thus, in Singapore the elderly are ubiquitous even in business establisments still working, all because they don't want to be considerd as burdens to their society. Actually, though I'm not sure if it gathered steam, Lee Kuan Yew even wanted to to TOTALLY SCRAP RETIREMENT IN SINGAPORE due to such reason (which angered quite a number of Singaporeans I knew:)). Also, if you read, retirement ages in some European countries have been further increased just last year. All due, BECAUSE THEY HAD UNBRIDLED POPULATION CONTROL, and THEIR NUMBER OF BIRTH RATE HASN'T CAUGHT UP WITH THE LENGTHENING OF LIFE EXTPECTANCY. By the way, here in the Philippines, our so-called POPULATION GROWTH ISN'T ONLY DUE TO GROWING BIRTH RATES, BUT ALSO BECAUSE our ELDERLY POPULATION HAD ALSO BEEN CONSISTENTLY INCREASING. The NSO Census of 2000 says "The total number of senior citizens (60 years old and over) based on the 2000 Census of Population and Housing was 4.6 million, accounting for 5.97 percent of the 2000 Philippine population. This number registered a 22.18 percent increase from 1995 (3.7 million persons). In terms of the average annual population growth rate, the elderly population grew at 4.39 percent during the 1995 to 2000 period, higher when compared to the 1990 to 1995 growth rate of 3.06 percent. If the growth rate continues at 4.39 percent, the number of senior citizens is expected to reach seven million in 2010 and to double in approximately 16 years." Guys, thus truth in POPULATION GROWTH is it's NOT ONLY BIRTH GROWTH, BUT ALSO LONGER LIFE EXPECTANCY OF PEOPLE. One last thing, by the way, please let me remind you that PNOY HIMSELF said "KUNG WALANG CORRUPT WALANG MAHIRAP" Ergo, the ROOT CAUSE OF POVERTY, and thus THE KEY TO DEVELOPMENT IS ROOTING OUT OF CORRUPTION. Unless of COURSE GETTING PREGNANT AND HAVING CHILDREN WILL NOW BE CONSIDERED A CORRUPTION.:) ERGO, population growth as NECESSARY AND IMMINENT cause OF POVERTY/MATERNAL AND CHILD ILL-HEALTH ETC., in this context is thus, quite flimsy at best (lest I be proven otherwise.) Thanks for the exchanges.:)
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