Philippines (country/area statements)

Asian Pac Popul Programme News. 1985 Sep;14(3):27-32.

Abstract

PIP: According to this statement presented to the Committee on Population of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the 1980 Philippine census enumerated 48.1 million persons, a more than 6-fold increase over the 7.6 million of 1903. The 1913-39 average intercensal growth rate of 2.22% declined during World War II but soared to 3.06% from 1948-60. The growth rate was 2.71% between 1975-80. The median age was 20.2 in 1903, 16.9 in 1970 and 18.6 in 1980. The crude birth rate declined from 46.0/1000 in 1960 to 34.8 in 1975, while the crude death rate declined from 13.7/1000 in 1960 to 9.3 in 1975. The average age of Filipino women at marriage increased from 23.2 in 1975 to 24 in 1978, causing a decline of the total fertility rate from 5.89 to 4.70. The infant mortality rate was expected to decline from 59.3 in 1983 to 54.2 in 1987. The Philippines was still 63% rural in 1980 despite the concentration of urban growth in Manila. As of 1983, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration had processed 434,207 employment contracts, of which 65.5% were for production process workers, transport equipment operators, and laborers, 15.3% were for service workers, and 13.9% were for professional and technical workers. The Philippine Family Planning program aims to reduce population growth from an estimated 2.54% in 1983 to 1.92% by 1993 and to achieve replacement level fertility by 2010. As a result of the 1978 review of the Philippine Population Programme, the focus is now on longterm planning to ensure more significant and perceptible demographic impact of development programs and policies. The Population Education Program aims to inculcate values supporting family planning in the areas of family size and welfare, responsible parenthood, and delayed marriage, while the Adolescent Fertility Program seeks to reduce the incidence of early marriage and pregnancy. 3496 clinics, hospitals, and sterilization centers provide family planning and related services, primarily to married couples of reproductive age. Outreach personnel in the public and private sectors serve clients beyond the reach of clinics. More than 628,000 new acceptors were recruited in 1984, of whom 111,131 chose sterilization. There were 2,473,451 current users out of a total of 7,028,364 married couples of reproductive age for a prevalence rate of 35.19%. Family planning acceptors are eligible for small capital loans for income-generating projects. Various types of training programs are continuously given to program personnel by the Manpower Development Programme. The 4 basic policies of the population program are noncoercion, integration, multiagency participation, and unacceptability of abortion. The private sector has played an important role in formulation and implementation of policies.

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Asia
  • Asia, Southeastern
  • Contraception
  • Contraception Behavior*
  • Demography*
  • Developing Countries
  • Economics
  • Emigration and Immigration*
  • Family Planning Policy*
  • Family Planning Services
  • Fertility*
  • Health Planning*
  • Infant Mortality*
  • Mortality*
  • Philippines
  • Politics*
  • Population Characteristics
  • Population Dynamics*
  • Population Growth*
  • Population*
  • Public Policy*
  • Rural Population
  • Sexual Behavior*
  • Social Planning
  • Socioeconomic Factors