Pro-life

By Marifi Jara

(I am writing this week’s column with reports from The PUNCH student trainees Charmaine Dizon, Wilna Memorial and Jahwela Ocay from UP Baguio.)

In Manaoag, home of the shrine of Our Lady of Manaoag, also known as Nuestra Señora del Rosario, a popular pilgrimage site for Catholics, family planning is aggressively being pushed by the local government.

Local officials know that the Catholic Church is against the government’s family planning program as a whole, and they do admit that there is strong opposition from the local Catholic clergy against their efforts.

The contention of the Church is that supposedly non-natural methods, such as contraceptive pills, are anti-life.

I  must  say that  perhaps the Church leaders need to be enlightened about the physiological reality that not all women, many of them in fact, have regular cycles  and  so  cannot  adopt the natural  rhythm method which the Church espouses. And there is the reality, too, that life partners have longings for romance and union, which do not necessarily relate to their instinct for procreation but just as important in the development of intimate human relationships.

Manaoag’s family program is actually pro-life because in their work to control population explosion, they are actually addressing the problem of poverty, among other things.

Manaoag is actually a microcosm of a nationwide phenomena. Economics professor Dante B. Canlas, who served as National Economic and Development Authority director-general during the term of President Fidel Ramos, said in a recent UP forum that high population growth is one of the root causes of our worsening poverty situation. And why the poor remains poor or fall even poorer.

Canlas cited how families with more children have lower investments per child for education and health, and having in general a higher incidence of poverty. And so it becomes a vicious cycle. The new generation from the poor are faced with less opportunities for a better life – with better meaning, at the very least, having access to the basics of ample food, decent shelter, primary education, and reasonable livelihood.

Without family planning, parents are hard-pressed to plot a future for the children. It becomes the isang  kahig  isang tuka existence.

Not to mention the issue of maternal wellbeing because mothers too are faced with health risks without proper spacing in between childbirths.

With the Living Standard Survey (LSS) conducted by the Municipal Planning Development Council (MPDC) of Manaoag in 2006, they were able to identify which families need utmost help.

Through the LSS results, the municipal government was able to identify “kung sino ang mga hindi kayang bumili ng mga contraceptives at dapat mabigyan. Hindi na nga sila makabili ng pagkain, eh di mas lalo na ng contraceptives,” said Edgar Valdez, head of the MPDC.

Complementing their moves to curb unsustainable population growth, the LGU, despite budget limitations, also pursues livelihood programs to boost economic development in this second-class municipality.

Addressing the complex and interrelated matters of poverty, maternal health, child mortality and education, and ultimately economic development that is felt by those at the bottom rung of the social ladder, a sensible and realistic family planning program is necessary.

Hindi pwedeng bahala na lang palagi. That, I believe, is the essence of being pro-life.

(Readers may reach columnist at marifijara@gmail.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/roots/
For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

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