Philippines Debate Over Contraception

Unlike so many countries in the world (like say, Scotland or Cuba) the Philippines is not in danger of having to rely on immigration to prop up its demographic future. With a birth rate well in excess of 3 children per woman (down from 7.4 sixty years ago) the Philippines is still a growing population. It is in the position of being able to export workers to other countries who need the help (for example, Singapore).

However, at the moment the Philippines is debating whether its population growth is desirable or whether the Government needs to do something about it. When other countries are trying to get people to pair up and breed for the future, the Philippines President, Benigno Aquino has pushed forward a controversial health bill that subsidizes contraception. According to the Wall Street Journal:

“The reproductive health bill – which would also mandate sex education and widen family planning offerings – passed an important hurdle Monday, when lawmakers decided to end long periods of debate on the issue so that a vote can be held, most likely in the next several weeks. If the bill passes in the Philippines House, backers would also need to get support from the Philippines Senate before the law can be enforced.”

The supporters of this bill are worried that if something is not done, then the Philippines will not be able to afford required infrastructure – roads, hospitals, schools etc – and will be unable to deal with poverty. In short, the Philippines must lower its population growth to become rich. As you may imagine, in a very Catholic country like the Philippines, there are vocal opponents to the bill. For example:

“Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a veteran Catholic leader, said on the online news portal rappler.com that the bill ‘hates life, wants to do away with life’ and questioned the economic value of efforts to rein in the country’s reproductive rates.”

But perhaps the hardest-hitting opponent of the bill is the Congressman representing the district of Sarangani, boxing icon Manny Pacquiao. As the Wall Street Journal reports, Pacquiao has “hit out” against the bill and has “com[e] out swinging”:

“God said, ‘Go out and multiply.’ He did not say, just have two or three kids,” [Pacquiao] said in an interview earlier this year with the Philippines’ GMA Network…Mr. Pacquiao has continued to reference contraception as one of his key political issues, arguing that lawmakers should instead focus on laws that would alleviate poverty, rather than using government funds to subsidize birth control.”

While it is unlikely that Pacquiao’s opposition will be a knock-out blow to the bill, it does give opponents a well-known figure to rally around and will undoubtedly help their message to get out to a wider audience. The debate has been raging on and off for ten years now in the Philippines, so it fair to say: watch this space; there are a few rounds to go before the final bell.

Related reading:  Vicente “Tito” Sotto Refutes Propaganda; Chile Study Exposes Lie of "Safe" Abortion; Clinton Talks Pro-Choice in the Philippines

430 Dead and Many Missing in Philippine Floods

Women holding their dead children

Tens of thousands in the Philippines have fled to higher ground, several hundred have been killed and many more are missing after a tropical storm in the area resulted in huge flash floods.

“Massive flooding has been reported over the region, especially in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City,” national disaster rescue agency head Benito Ramos told the BBC.

Much of the flooding occurred during the night while residents of the region affected were sleeping. The latest reports say as many as 430 people have been brought to funeral parlors around the country, but officials say the numbers might rise because many are still missing.

As many as 10,000 soldiers are reportedly helping with rescue efforts.

“I can’t explain how these things happened,” Military Spokesman Colonel Leopoldo Galon told the BBC. “Entire villages were swept into the sea.”


Read the full report here.

Mindanao Presses Manila for New Status

The demand for full independence has changed, but little else has. They have simply gone from wanting full autonomy to govern the area as a separate Islamic state to wanting to do the same thing while remaining part of the Philippines.

If anything, the revised set of demands would create a win-win situation for the jihadists. If they cut themselves off, they would at some point have to attempt to build a functioning economy, worry about infrastructure, and so forth -- in other words, act like a real state. They would also face more acutely the prospect of jihadist impulses turning inward in power struggles for the fully independent state.

By staying part of the Philippines, they remain attached to that stream of resources, and can continue to blackmail Manila with demands for the sake of stability in the region. It is also easier while technically remaining part of the Philippines to continue to revise the borders of the Islamic state that is still technically Filipino, than as a sovereign nation making demands on another: again, blackmail is cheaper than war.

What remains to be seen is how willing Manila is to overlook its constitution in a Sharia-for-peace deal for this region. "Philippine Muslims drop separatist demands," from Al-Arabiya, September 23 (thanks to Twostellas):


The chief government negotiator in peace talks with Muslim rebels on Thursday welcomed a rebel leader's statement that his group is no longer demanding independence from the Philippines and instead is seeking a status similar to a U.S. state.
Read it all here.

Clinton Talks Pro-Choice in the Philippines

Hillary Clinton, on her first visit to the Philippines as U.S. secretary of state, said she wants to “empower” women to make choices that will be good for themselves, their families and society.
Apparently, the Church to which most Filipinos belong doesn’t know anything about what’s good for her own children.

The Church has been leading the opposition to a Reproductive Health Bill in Congress which would would mandate the government to fund reproductive health programs and services, including artificial contraceptives, and require schools to teach sex education beginning in elementary school.

Clinton told reporters on the island nation Nov. 12 that the Obama administration has no “intention or plan to preempt or otherwise go beyond or around what the attitudes of society are.”

Roughly 81 percent of the 86 million Filipinos are Catholic.

But the former first lady did not let the opportunity pass to educate Filipinos on what’s good for them.

“I believe strongly that family planning is an important aspect of development and I’ve seen this around the world,” she told reporters. Clinton emphasized the importance of giving women the “freedom to choose,” the Filipino website GMAnews.TV reported.

“Trying to empower and educate women so that they are able to make these decisions and they have access to family planning is not only positive to the woman and her family but for the larger society,” Clinton said.

The U.S. government has also recently been newly “empowered,” in a sense. Soon after Obama took office, he reversed the Mexico City Policy, which had banned U.S. funding of abortion-providing groups abroad. He also restored U.S. funding to the United Nations Population Fund, the organization that has worked in concert with China’s extremely restrictive population control regime.

Earlier this year, Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon in the Philippines said he hoped people would send a message to legislators that the Reproductive Health Bill was unacceptable.

Speaking over Church-run Radio Veritas May 13, Bishop Bastes said, “We hope that they (politicians) will learn a lesson because, by voting for it, they are endangering the Filipino family,” the bishop said.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines “will not back down because the provisions of that bill are anti-family, anti-life,” he said.

—John Burger, from here.

Father Sinnott Held Captive in Philippines

Philippine troops and navy gunboats have been deployed to surround suspected Muslim militants and pressure them to free an ailing Irish priest, who has been spotted with his captors in the country's south, a military general said.

No rescue was imminent out of concern for the safety of the Rev Michael Sinnott, 79, said regional military commander Maj Gen Benjamin Dolorfino.

Sinnott's abduction in Pagadian, in the Zamboanga del Sur province, on Sunday was the latest hostage crisis to grip this predominantly Roman Catholic nation, which has grappled with decades-long Muslim separatist unrest in the south, the homeland of minority Muslims.

Read more here.

Pray.

160 Killed in Philippine Flooding

At least 160 people have been killed by flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rain in the northern Philippines, officials say.

Most of the deaths were in Benguet province, where landslides were reported to have hit several towns.

In Pangasinan province, accumulated flood water had to be released from dams, hampering rescue efforts.

The country is dealing with the aftermath of two major storms, Typhoons Ketsana and Parma.

Typhoon Ketsana left at least 300 people dead and hundreds of thousands stranded, while Typhoon Parma caused further damage just over a week later.

Read more here and here.

Manila Flood Crisis Worsens

PHILIPPINES flood survivors have crowded into the presidential palace, gymnasiums and hundreds of other makeshift evacuation centres as the death toll from the disaster soared to 240.

The humanitarian crisis facing the government deepened significantly on Tuesday after it reported hundreds of thousands of people had poured into the centres, where food, medicine and other relief supplies were in dire shortage.

The government said 374,890 survivors of the devastating rains unleashed by tropical storm Ketsana on Saturday across the nation's capital Manila and surrounding regions were now sheltering in the centres.

The death toll had also jumped to 240, 100 more than Monday's assessment, after authorities finally started to record those killed in Manila.

The government said 101 people had been confirmed killed in the capital, up from seven on Monday but the death toll was expected to rise even further with some areas of the disaster zone still submerged.

Read it all here.

Philippine Flood Devastation

MANILA, Philippines - More than a month's worth of rain fell in just 12 hours Saturday as Tropical Storm Ketsana slammed ashore in the Philippines, killing at least 40 people and stranding thousands on rooftops in the capital's worst flooding in more than 42 years.

The government declared a "state of calamity" in metropolitan Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces, said Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, who heads the National Disaster Coordinating Council. That allows officials to withdraw emergency money for relief and rescue.

A landslide and flash flooding in nearby Rizal province killed 35 people, said provincial government spokesman Tony Mateo. Most of the fatalities in Rizal drowned, said Loel Malonzo, chairman of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council. - AP

Read more here.

Philippines Monsoon Deadly

MANILA, Aug 7: Monsoon rains inundated wide areas of the northern Philippines, triggering flash floods and landslides that killed at least 12 people, including two French citizens and a Belgian who were touring Mount Pinatubo, officials said on Friday. Nine European and three South Korean tourists were travelling on the volcano on Thursday when a landslide blocked their path, trapping one of their three vehicles, officials in Tarlac province said.

Three of the Europeans and their two Filipino guides were swept away by flash floods and their bodies were recovered on Friday, said Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan of Capas township near the volcano.

Rains also have battered Zambales province west of Manila since Wednesday. An air force helicopter plucked trapped people from trees and rooftops.

At least two people died in Botolan and surrounding areas, Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso said.

Police reported two other bodies had been recovered in Tarlac province.

Landslides in the Cordillera mountains killed three siblings aged seven to 13 in Baguio city, said an official. —AP

Is Peace in Philippines Possible?

The BBC has the following story about a peace deal in the Southern Philippines between the government and the largest rebel group seeking an independent Muslim state. In broad terms this looks like a good thing, any peace deal which results in the an end to armed conflict has to be supported, plus this region should have a greater share in the disposal of it’s natural resources. However, there are elements to deal which at first glance give some pause for thought.

Firstly, although this is a majority Muslim area it is not a completely Muslim one, there are a number of Christian villages, and communities here. Are there safeguards in place for them? Secondly, whilst it is good that the MILF is seeking to negotiate as opposed to engage in armed struggle what of other Muslim rebel groups also active in this area? International Christian Concern is reporting threats made against churches, Catholic priests and bishops in Mindanao, as well as the extrotion and kidnapping of Christian villagers in the Sulu Archipelago.

Philippine government negotiators say they have reached a deal witha Muslim rebel group to expand an autonomous region in the south of thecountry.

Villagers affected by the plans will be asked to vote within 12 months on whether they want to join the new area.

A larger autonomous region is something the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has sought for decades.

The Philippine president’s peace adviser said a framework agreement could be expected early next month.

“A breakthrough has been achieved in the issue of ancestral domain…tonight, with the signing of a joint communique,” said Hermogenes Esperon.

The BBC correspondent in Manila, Michael Barker, says Monday’s announcement is being seen as a major step forward.

Earlier this month both sides agreed to an expansion of theregion, but the deal appeared in doubt as they could not agree on a time frame.

Just last Saturday, there were reports that the Malaysian-brokered talks had collapsed.

But negotiators now say these differences have been ironed out.

Fragile truce
The long-running Islamic insurgency in the south of the country has cost some 100,000 lives.

The MILF is the largest of several Muslim separatist groups battling the government in the predominantly Catholic country.

Formal talks between the government and MILF began in 2003,after the rebel group, which is thought to have around 11,000 members,signed a fragile truce with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’sgovernment.

The new agreement envisages the extension of the present autonomous region in Mindanao to include a further 712 villages.

The proposed homeland will be entitled to a large share of the resources in the area.

The new region would expand on an autonomous territory that wasoriginally created in a deal with another Muslim rebel group, the MoroNational Liberation Front (MNLF).

From here. Please pray for the Philippine Islands to find a peaceful settlement. I lived there as a child as hold a special fondness for the Filipino people.

Islamic Rebels in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines: An influential bloc of Islamic nations called on the Philippine government and Muslim rebels Thursday to end clashes it said put half a million civilians at risk and aided extremists who seek to destroy the fragile peace process.

The government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front should resume peace talks and end the clashes that erupted in August after the Philippine Supreme Court scrapped a preliminary peace deal, said Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

In an appeal on the bloc's Web site, he said the fighting in the troubled southern island of Mindanao "empowers undisciplined elements who seek to abort the peace process and fuel extremist feelings."

More than 100 civilians have been killed and about half a million driven from their homes since three rebel commanders went on a bloody rampage in several Christian communities in August, prompting an offensive by government troops.

The rebels blamed the government for jeopardizing 11 years of tough negotiations when the Supreme Court stopped the signing of an accord granting minority Muslims an expanded homeland. The court declared the agreement unconstitutional and said it could lead to the partition of the Philippines.

Read it all here.

The Philippines is predominantly Roman Catholic. Of its 90 million people, Muslims comprise about 5 percent.