EDITORIAL - Slowing down

The projection was that the number of Filipinos would surpass 110 million by 2020. Now the Commission on Population has lowered its forecast amid a reported deceleration in the number of childbirths. PopCom says that by July 2020, there would be 108.7 million Filipinos – 1.2 million lower than the 109.9 million originally projected by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

PopCom reported that in the past decade, the country’s population growth has been slowing down, dipping by 0.21 percent from the 1.73 percent between 2010 and 2015 to 1.52 percent in the second half of the decade. Between 2019 and 2020, PopCom is projecting an increase of 1.38 percent, or over 1.48 million added to the population.

While the birth rate is dipping, more Filipinos are living longer and accounting for a greater percentage of the population. By 2020, PopCom estimates that Filipinos 60 years and older will grow to nearly 9.69 million, accounting for 8.8 percent of the population.

PopCom attributes the slower population growth rate to reproductive health and family planning programs gaining acceptance among Filipinos and yielding results. PopCom, however, stresses that the country still has one of the highest population growth rates in Southeast Asia, with a rising number of adolescent and teenage pregnancies.

From the start of his administration, the full implementation of reproductive health programs has been part of President Duterte’s socioeconomic development agenda. He tried to overcome legal roadblocks by issuing an executive order, but the RH campaign began taking off only when the legal hurdles were lifted.

Today the implementation of the RH program still needs full support from local government units, so the President may need to exert pressure to get the cooperation that is critical to the success of the program. The latest statistics show a downward trend in population growth, but this must be sustained, and there is no room for complacency.