RH Bill: The Antidote to Poverty?

RH Bill: The Antidote to Poverty?

Editorial of Argumentation

Written by Jose Angelo C. Tiglao

The alarming increase in population has been a considered by many an important factor to why many Filipino families are below the poverty line today. If that is the case, will the approval of the Reproductive Health Bill alleviate the status of poverty here in the Philippines?

The Reproductive Health Bill, popularly known as RH Bill, is a Philippine bill aiming to guarantee universal access to methods and information on birth control and maternal care. The bill is known to provide information in the fields of family planning, birth control, sex education, and distribution of contraceptives.

According to statistics, the Philippines is already the 12th most populous state in the world today. This has been a proponent by the government to heed action in order to remedy overpopulation. In addition, the government sees it fit to educate the populace regarding the population-poverty connection.

However, population does not completely attribute itself to poverty. Simon Kuznet, Nobel Prize Winner of 1966, presented in his research that there is insignificant empirical association between population growth rates and output per capita (economic growth). Rather, it is the rate at which technology grows and the ability of the population to employ these new technologies efficiently and widely that permit economic progress.

Furthermore, there are still many factors contributing to the increase poverty that the government has yet to address such as corruption and lack of education. The government’s excuse of using population as a scapegoat to implement the RH bill is unacceptable.

It is very disappointing, however, that some prominent government officials support the bill. One of them is Vice-President Jejomar Binay who expressed his support for condoms stating, “With condoms, there’s no abortion. It’s just prevention.” Although President Benigno Aquino III has stated his neutral stand regarding the issue, he stated that he will fully support the crafting of a firm policy that will address the serious problem on population.

This is why the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has expressed distaste with the RH Bill made by Congress. Because 81% of the Filipinos are Catholics, CBCP has tried to stop the implementation of the bill in order to “retain” the moral and religious values that Catholics have. They have reached the point of threatening the President that once he supports the bill, they shall decide on excommunicating the head of state.

Nevertheless, the State expresses their intent desire to help address the alarming increase of Filipinos below the poverty line. The RH Bill must not be considered as a panacea to poverty as the overpopulation is not the main foundation of poverty. It is the government’s duty to enhance the livelihood of the people and not revert the problem back to the Filipinos.