Letter to PDI Editor Re: Farmers riot vs. 'one-child’ policy
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The Editor
The Philippine Daily Inquirer
Dear Sir/Madam:
Your news article "Farmers riot vs. 'one-child’ policy" (PDI , 23 May 2007) should serve as a warning bell for some of our legislators who, equating population growth with poverty, are pushing for a comprehensive policy on population management that urges, among others, a two-child policy in the Philippines.
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The article reports that police clashed with protesters in Southern China as thousands of angry farmers rioted when family planning work teams went around homes levying fines on families who had too many kids. Earlier, other sources have reported that the implementation of China’s “one-child” policy also resulted in forced abortions, sterilization, and confiscation of property.
China’s population control policies were introduced in the late 1970s amid fears that population growth could outstrip natural resources and government services. They limit urban families to one child while allowing parents in rural areas to have two children if the first is a girl. Because the traditional Chinese preference for male heirs is still strong, a problematic gender imbalance has resulted as families have aborted females and sometimes been sold to places where there are not enough young women for men to marry. Labor shortages and questions of who will support an aging population have also become major concerns.
In this regard, Prof. Zhang Yi, from the Institute of Population and Labor Economics, told Asia News:” In the beginning, it was believed that our big population would be a hindrance to our economic development. But over the decade, experience has told us otherwise.” He cites the case of Japan, who, having very little in terms of resources but having one of the highest population densities in the world, is a thriving economy and one of the richest nations.
Indeed, it is not population growth that hinders economic development but the inequitable distribution of resources.
Let us learn our lessons well from the experience of our Asian neighbors and be better off for it.
Sincerely,
Marita F. Wasan
Executive Director
Pro-Life Philippines Foundation, Inc.
Good Shepherd Convent Compound,
1043 Aurora Blvd., Quezon City
Tel No.: 911.29.11
Telefax: 421.71.47
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