Popultion Management Part 1: the problem

Population management is a serious issue in the Philippines. The country is simply incapable of adequately supporting the current population, and its economic growth versus its population growth does not suggest that this situation will improve very soon—if anything, given the manner in which the national income is reinvested, the problem will only get worse.

The cost of this problem is difficult to calculate. Metro Manila alone collects 8,000 cubic meters of garbage daily, which does not include uncollected litter—anyone who’s been to Metro Manila knows how significant that is, and there are no longer dumps enough to hold it all. A little over a third of the nation’s river systems are viable for public water supply and in Metro Manila ALL major rivers are simply dead with dissolved oxygen levels actually reaching zero for much of the year. Much of our groundwater—on which half the country’s population relies for drink—is contaminated, most of this contamination comes from domestic waste, agricultural runoff, and industrial pollution—saline contamination caused by over-exploitation of the ground water is also a problem. Metro Manila alone, according to the World Bank, would require up to P75 billion to provide just 60% sewage coverage throughout the city by 2022, and the entire country would spend P250 billion on infrastructure alone to provide just 50% coverage in 10 years. Our farms, seas and fisheries are simply unequal to the task of feeding us all sustainably, and all these areas are rapidly reaching a point wherein they will be irrecoverably lost for decades if not centuries, especially our seas and fisheries. Between 1990 and 2005 we lost a third of our forests, and continue to lose about 2% a year. The economy cannot provide employment for the population, healthcare is virtually non existent, housing is atrocious—simply put our population demands far more than what this country and this land can provide.

Politics, on which so much of this ultimately turns, only serves to muddle the waters further. Lito Atienza, former mayor of Manila, and now secretary of the DENR, was famous for banning all forms of contraception and information on contraception from the city’s health centers. Atienza is chairman of the Liberal Party of the Philippines, ostensibly a devout Catholic, and during his term as mayor, chair of Pro-life Philippines. We all know what it means to be a mayor in this country, and the idea of a conscience in Atienza seems more than a little silly. I cannot say with certainty how much of Atienza’s policy was politics and how much of it was principles—just because Atienza is not the sort of man who would bat an eyelash at the thought of graft and corruption (he recently admitted to receiving cash gifts from Malacanang, he does not consider that he did anything wrong) does not mean he can’t honestly be hard-line pro-life. He is so far from being a good man, and yet for all anyone knows he may be sincere in that regard. Recently on the other hand, a Quezon City councilor proposed a new population management policy—which was naturally basted by the Bishop of Cubao (“if he belongs to a family that is staunchly Catholic and was brought up well….If only he sought our guidance and attended Masses regularly, then this would not have happened,” said his spokesperson, Fr. Sison). The majority leader of the city council came to his aid, defending the program in a round about way but added, “The Quezon City Council will not allow the passage of any bill that promotes abortion and other illegal means or any anti-Christian provisions.” I wonder what sort of population management program would not be viewed as anti-Christian. Actually the proposal includes artificial contraception, so it is de facto anti Christian.

So the population is bursting at the seams, and the country, ecosystem, and economy cannot support its growth. This only slows economic growth more (while strangely enough leaving population growth rates the same) thus making the problem even more difficult, ad infinitum. And our local and national governments refuse to take serious action to solve the problem.

It is a complicated and prickly issue, and I plan on two or three more articles on it.