By: Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas S. J.
Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:51 am | Monday, August 6th, 2012

Link: http://opinion.inquirer.net/34153/rh-bill-dont-burn-the-house-to-roast-a-pig

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         In a calibrated pitch for Responsible Parenthood (Reproductive Health Bill), President Benigno Aquino III rallied congresspersons in an all-members meeting to terminate the interminable and repetitive debates on the controversial measure.

         He suggested to the Members of the House to cast subsequently a conscience vote on the bill, which vote entails the following: (a) the courage to make a decision as leaders of their respective constituencies; (b) not to be cowed by intimidation of reprisal at the polls; and (c) to address the major problems like ills in health and backlog in education which are aggravated by a ballooning population.

          The President also cautioned that the “bahala na” attitude results in inordinately large families, which presidential prescription adopts the call for “children by choice, not by chance”.

         The enactment of an RH law will frontally address problems spawned by calamities and ecological despoliation.

      An inordinately huge population growth rate makes difficult and expensive risk management during calamities, contributes to the destruction of the environment, creates an imbalance in the ecosystems, and hinders the efficacy of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

         The current flooding of Metro Manila and many provinces shows the hardship and expense of rescue and relief operations because of the multitude affected by the calamity.

       We must learn from the tragedies brought about by catastrophes like Ondoy and Sendong and accept the fact that there is a direct link between a high population growth rate and climate change.

        As population expands, people reside precariously along riverbanks, invade forestlands for habitation and cut trees for livelihood, and clog waterways with their garbage, which all compound the calamity and deter efficient risk management.

       The problem of solid waste management is aggravated in populous areas as shown when Manila Bay recently inundated tons of solid wastes along Roxas Boulevard.

      The negative impact of an uncontrolled huge population growth rate on the environment will continually make risk management nightmarish and perpetuate similar tragedies to happen.

         The DENR-commissioned study on “Mapping Population-Biodiversity Connections in the Philippines (MPBCP)” recognizes that uncontrolled population growth greatly strains our finite resources and fragile ecosystems and emphasizes that “policies and interventions that focus on biodiversity conservation alone are insufficient in abating biodiversity losses and destruction of forest resources unless population and development concerns are adequately addressed.”

         A report published by the London School of Economics entitled, Fewer Emitters, Lower Emissions, Less Cost, found that family planning is five times cheaper than conventional green technologies to combat climate change.

         The report projected the benefits of bridging the global unmet need for family planning and found that “every £4 spent on family planning over the next four decades would reduce global CO2 emissions by more than a ton, whereas a minimum of £19 would have to be spent on low-carbon technologies to achieve the same result”.

         The report concluded that if “basic family planning needs were met, 34 gigatons (billion tonnes) of CO2 would be saved – equivalent to nearly 6 times the annual emissions of the US and almost 60 times the UK’s annual total.”

         Mr. Roger Martin, chairman of the Optimum Population Trust at the London School of Economics said: “It’s always been obvious that total emissions depend on the number of emitters as well as their individual emissions – the carbon tonnage can’t shoot down as we want, while the population keeps shooting up.”

           The RH bill is at the threshold of approval after almost 15 years of unrelenting crusade by authors and advocates inside and outside of the Congress.

          The termination of the debates is an emphatic validation by the people’s elected representatives of the periodic surveys that Filipinos want the enactment of the RH bill and for the government to use public funds for family planning, including contraceptives that are not abortive.

          It is a collective realization by congresspersons that as representatives of the people they are obliged to legislate with courage and conviction their constituents’ clamor for an RH law, unperturbed by threats of hellfire or reprisals at the polls.

           It is also a collective awareness of the surveys’ consistent results that the voters will elect candidates with platforms that include family planning and government funding for medically safe, legal and effective contraceptives.

          The vote taken on Monday, 06 August, ending the debates was providential because continuous rains and heavy flooding have caused the suspension of the session on Tuesday, 07 August, the original date scheduled for the voting to terminate interpellations on the bill.

            The expected passage of the RH bill is:

             (1) An affirmation that public funds have no religion and can be used for the general welfare independent of the dogma of any church;

           (2) A bold statement that responsible parenthood and reproductive health are not about religion or sex but about human rights, maternal and infant health and sustainable human development; and

            (3) An empirical recognition that no development agenda will succeed without the government simultaneously and positively addressing the population problem.