PIP: The Assistant Bishop of Manila, Philippines, comments on Pope John Paul II teachings and former Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae. The Roman Catholic Church over the past twenty five years has not accepted modern contraception. Lay Catholics are confused over the appropriate behavior regarding family planning, are ignorant of the Church's teachings, or have followed their conscience. Critics say that the teachings are obsolete and unheeded. Church officials respond that the Church is run by divine inspiration and not majority rule. The Church position is based on reason and on God himself, who prohibits man-made contraception. Paul VI revealed that the conjugal act was the link between unitive and procreative meanings, and man did not have the right to break the link on his own initiative. John Paul II reaffirms this position by stating that human beings do not have "absolute dominion over the conjugal act" and are not the final arbiters of the creation of life. Humans are servants of the creation of new life as collaborators and procreators. Humans act like Gods when they deprive the conjugal act of procreative meaning through contraceptive use. Natural family planning does not violate this divine prerogative. The Pope's teachings are verified. There is evidence of declines in conjugal infidelity, the lowering of moral standards, increased abortion, and the demise of demographic imperialism. The Church recognizes the problem of overpopulation, and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines acknowledges the responsibility of all sectors of society to solve the problem. Catholics in the Philippines are opposed to the Ramos' administration's aggressive birth control program. The opposition is due to the government's lack of provision of sufficient information about the side effects of modern contraceptives and the neglect of natural family planning, which is the only morally legitimate form of contraception sanctioned by Roman Catholics. Freedom of choice means only modern methods.