by Anne Roback Morse and Steven Mosher
Population Research Institute welcomes
the birth of little Chonalyn Sentino. Baby Chonalyn was born this past Sunday
to parents Clemente and Dailin, and was feted in the Philippines as “Baby 100
Million.” PRI welcomes Baby Chonalyn as well, saying that she will be a
blessing to her family, her community, and her nation.
The Philippines is one of the largest
Catholic countries in the world, and its people value children. For this
reason, it has been a target of the population controllers for decades. It was
one of the countries singled out by Henry Kissinger’s National Security Council
in 1974 for special “attention” and, more recently, has been bullied by the
Obama administration into passing its first population control law.
The bill, which was touted as being all about promoting “reproductive health,” was actually intended to drive down the birth rate. For example, section 15 requires that all couples receive a "Certificate of Compliance" from the local Family Planning Office before becoming eligible for a marriage license.
Some in the Philippines are decrying
Chonalyn’s birth, repeating USAID’s talking points about the “dangers” of
overpopulation. They welcome Chonalyn as an individual little girl, while
simultaneously calling for future little girls and boys to be removed from
existence.
The Philippine Star wrote that the birth
symbolized a “large population that will put a strain on the country's limited
resources.” Another paper cited the executive director of the official
Commission on Population who bluntly said “We'd like to push the fertility rate
down to two children per (woman's) lifetime.” And the Global Post cited
“concerned advocates” who thought the current population was not a “complement
with the country's economic growth.”
But many other Filipinos aren’t buying
into the anti-people hysteria. Francisco Antonio, a Filipino Chemical
Engineering graduate student at Yale, adamantly rebutted the notion that there
are too many Filipinos, saying: “I celebrate life because population control is
defeatism disguised as pragmatism. And because human creativity holds more
potential for protecting this planet and its inhabitants than any other
resource I know of.”
A Filipina currently living in
California told PRI that she welcomed the transition of her country to 100
million persons: “Filipinos are not a burden to the world population, because
we not only care for our own but also for others in the world. One of the
greatest and most sought after exports of the Philippines is our skilled,
motivated, and exemplary workforce. And these workers tirelessly cultivate their
family and community abroad and in the Philippines. We are a very social and
civic minded people. We care and share because it is part of our culture and we
do it with a smile.”
Ed, a Filipino accountant, also celebrated the
birth of Baby Chonalyn: “The typical Filipino does not associate a baby with
‘cost’ or ‘expense’ but rather as a ‘blessing’ and a ‘gift.’ This is because
Filipinos recognize that true happiness does not come from the accumulation of
material wealth or prestige, but rather, from true, genuine, and strong
relationships with other people. value life, not because the Church says or the
Pope says so, but because they recognize it to be true. And the truth about the
value of life, will continue to shine, long after the debates are over.”
It goes without saying that we at the
Population Research Institute also welcome Chonalyn’s birth. We need more
Filipinos, not fewer.
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