BACK in 1973, the Philippines must have been the only country in the world with a policy on population embodied in the Constitution, which says: “It shall be the responsibility of the State to achieve and maintain population levels most conducive to the national welfare.” (Sec. 10, Art. XV, 1973 Constitution). Additionally, the Philippine Environment Code (PD 1152, 1977) provides a section on population-environment balance. Both legislations came when there was much concern about the rapidly growing Philippine population, aggravated by the decreasing availability of natural resources.
Actually, a Filipino, the late Rafael Salas, first executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, called the attention of countries about “the crucial links between population growth and development goals, and there is a need to take population factors into account in development plans.”
Effects of overpopulation on the environment
Overpopulation is the state of the number of human inhabitants “when there are more people that can live on planet Earth in comfort, happiness and health, and still leave the world a fit place for future generations.” It happens when the Earth cannot regenerate resources used by the world’s population each year.
If not controlled, overpopulation can bring about not only depletion of natural resources but also habitat loss and species extinction, increased global warming and climate change, lower life expectancy and emergence of new endemics, epidemics and pandemics.
To be more specific, forests are being cleared at a fast rate as the population increases. Forests are giving way to human settlements and industrial expansion. At the same time, lack of forest trees results in floods, soil erosion and naturally, food insecurity, which drives people to urban areas that need to expand to accommodate migrants from rural areas. There are also environmental refugees and internally displaced persons uprooted from their traditional habitat for environmental reasons, e.g., natural disasters, armed conflict, water and food scarcity. It is human nature that a person would do everything to survive. They would relocate to places where there are enough resources to go on with their lives.
Overpopulation, worsened by crowded living conditions, malnutrition and inadequate health care wreak havoc on the poor and increase their likelihood of being exposed to diseases like diarrhea and malaria, typical diseases caused by inadequacy of clean water while cholera, typhus, dysentery, gastroenteritis and hepatitis spread by contaminated water and dirty hands. There was a time when much attention was focused on prevention of infectious diseases like SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). The World Health Organization says Covid-19 is a new virus but like other pandemics in the past, it is preventable, treatable and manageable. To cite an example, flu vaccines did not exist when the Spanish flu of 1918 hit many people. Medical historians say there was even a spike of the flu virus in 1920 followed by the equivalent today of “herd immunity.” It should be noted there were fewer people in those days. Increase in population means more people would get infected and infect others, especially in densely populated cities. Needless to say, overpopulation plays a role in the spread of viruses and emergence of pandemics.
Furthermore, the effects of environmental pollutants in the air or water, particularly those caused by chemicals, worsen the health problem. This is particularly true of industrial activities that involve chemical use or the deliberate release of chemical substances for specific purposes as in the case of agricultural chemicals.
In this connection, it is a declared policy of the State to protect and promote the right of the people to good health and instill health consciousness among them. (Sec 15, Art II, 1987, Constitution). Pursuant to the constitutional policy, laws adopted by the government to prevent and control prevailing health problems include, but is not limited to, compulsory basic immunization, penalties for improper disposal of wastes, formation of local water districts, construction and rehabilitation of existing water wells in barangay as well as a Water Code and a Sanitation Code.
Reproductive health law
With continuing accounts that the natural resources of the Philippines are uncontrollably decreasing brought by, among others, overpopulation, Congress enacted Republic Act 10354, or the 2012 Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act, despite objections by some quarters on religious grounds. The goal of the law is to allow people to make informed decisions with regard to their reproductive health as well as the education of people on all methods of family planning. It promotes programs that enable people to have the number of children they desire with due consideration to their health, and the resources available and affordable to them. As expected, the human right vis-à-vis a person’s right over one’s body figured much in the debates on the proposed law. There was expectation that wide acceptance of the new law could be tested by the use of the people’s power-related legal process called referendum in the 1987 Constitution, but it did not happen.
For a while, there were thoughts on the imposition of a penalty for reproducing beyond a predetermined but reasonable number of children. Not as drastic as the original “one child” policy in China but a burden or imposition of a tax on those who exceed a specified number of offspring. Or, positively approaching the matter, perhaps incentives for lesser children like educational benefits, etc., could be resorted to.
It seems that population reduction as an aid in the prevention of further degradation of the environment and natural resources has not reached the senses of many until the Covid-19 pandemic took over.
Population vis-à-vis UN Sustainable Development Goals
Rapid population growth and natural resources depletion are interacting with one another in ways that are harmful to people’s health and well-being. In assessing the overall policies and strategies of the government, one must examine them with particular reference to their bearing on the UN Agenda 2030 the essence of which is distilled in 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which include, among others, no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, clean water and sanitation, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, sustainable cities and communities, affordable clean energy, climate action, and responsible consumption and production.
Congress must enact strict policies which truly integrate population issues with the sustainable development goals. The Philippines must lead in heeding the prescription pronounced by the pioneering Filipino population expert, Rafael Salas.
Take note that the government alone cannot have all solutions as they are subject to political, administrative, budgetary and other constraints. It needs active participation by the private/business sector, nongovernmental organizations, and international agencies and institutions. Likewise, there is the need for more concern for human progress and social justice as factors influencing a transformative population-environment balance framework for the Philippines.