Experts belie Arroyo's claim on impact of natural birth control

{mosimage}Contrary to claims made by President Arroyo during her 8th State of the Nation Address, population growth has slowed down not through natural family planning but due to lower fertility and higher use of contraceptives in the past eight years, an official of the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) said Wednesday.

In a press conference, UPPI Director Dr. Grace Cruz said the country's population growth rate has been declining from 3.08 percent in 1960-1970 to 2.04 percent from 2000-2007, according to data from the National Statistics Office (NSO).

She said data from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) showed that the country's fertility rate had dropped from 5.97 percent in 1970 to 3.5 percent in 2001 to 3.2 percent in 2007.

Cruz said that despite the lower annual growth rate of 2.04%, the Philippines still has the third highest population growth rate in Southeast Asia, ranking only below Timor Leste and Brunei.

"We are currently growing at a rate of 1.9 million Pinoys born every year. That would mean an estimated 115 million Filipinos by the year 2025, according to UNESCAP," Cruz told reporters.

She said data from the NSO and two National Demographic and Health Surveys showed that of the estimated 12.9 million married women ages 15-49 in the country in 1996-2006, about 1.2 million underwent ligation while 3.4 million used contraceptives and other artificial family planning methods such as pills, spermicides, condoms and IUDs.

On the other hand, only 50,000 married women used natural family planning methods such as Billings ovulation method, Standard Days method, Lactational Amenorrhoea method and Basal body temperature method. Another 1.7 million women used traditional family planning methods such as the calendar and rhythm methods, periodic abstinence and withdrawal.

She also said 6.5 million married women did not apply any form of family planning.