With the population galloping toward the 100-million mark, the Philippines will be among one of several developing nations leading global population growth in the coming years, according to the United Nations.
With limited resources and economic growth failing to keep pace with the population boom, this means more people getting an ever-shrinking share of the pie. This is true both in the Philippines and around the planet, whose resources cannot meet the demands especially of the poorest segments of the 7.2 billion population. In the Philippines, the population boom has derailed efforts to make the benefits of economic growth trickle down to the grassroots. This has been a problem in previous administrations and remains a problem of the Aquino government, despite sustained economic growth since 2010.
Even with the country posting the highest growth rate in the region, an estimated 40 percent of Filipinos continue to live below the poverty line. Government statistics attest to the fact that poverty levels remained unchanged from 2006 until early last year. State resources are overwhelmed. Persistent urban blight is testament to the continually growing demand for jobs, housing, and the most basic necessities such as water, food and sanitation.
The lack of resources is acutely felt in public health care, with new mothers sharing not just rooms but beds in free hospital wards. Maternal and child mortality rates remain high because of the weakness of reproductive health programs. Large, unplanned families make poverty alleviation more difficult.
While landmark legislation was finally passed by the 15th Congress to promote reproductive health, the measure remains stalled in the Supreme Court, and opponents have vowed to derail its implementation. In the meantime, women and children suffer from poor health and the many other afflictions that hit the impoverished, and strong economic growth figures are meaningless to millions of Filipinos.