OVERPOPULATION IN THE PHILIPPINES 1

The Social Impact of Population Explosion in the Philippines

Vanessa M. Ecija

Rafael Garado Jr.

Madelyn Llena

Sta. Fe National High School

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Abstract

In this research paper, the main focus is on the global issue of overpopulation that is currently

occurring in the Philippines. Discussing the environmental, economical and social impacts of the

sudden population explosion is one of the specific objectives in this study. Overpopulation does

not only affect on any individual rather, the whole country is experiencing the catastrophic

consequences and even the plants and animals are being involved in this humans' wrong doing that

some of it leads to the overpopulation. It has been recognized as a global environmental problem

since few decades, as it has caused a number of adverse effects on environment. Also, it has

resulted in a series of disastrous outcomes such as, depletion of natural resources, degradation of

environment, lack of space to inhabit, extinction of plants and animal species, pollution and faster

climate change. All of these are happening due to poverty, poor contraceptive use, child labor,

reduced mortality rates, immigration and fertility treatment. Various organizations in our country

as well as the government are aiming for resolution and suppression of the continuous population

growth through implementing appropriate programs and laws associated to the issue of

overpopulation. Moreover, concrete steps need to be taken on national and international level to

combat the adverse effects of overpopulation, so that the sustainability of natural resources can be

ensured for future generations ahead.

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The Social Impact of Population Explosion in the Philippines

Over the past years, Philippines, which is our native land was considered to be one of the

countries that is rich in natural resources but now, everything has changed. As of today, it is hurt

and bleeding for our country has so many people living. The environment and economic status are

all affected. Even the plants and animals are gradually losing its space and habitat. At the

meantime, the current number of population is around 109 million as of the end of 2019 and still

increasing throughout these coming years. As a result, different particular bad effects are emitted.

Such as, many families are becoming a squatter because there is not enough space to build a house,

great demand in resource consumption, keep getting worse of climate change, extinction of

animals and many more. To end this horrible situation, everyone needs to be involved and be part

of fixing our wrongs related to the prevention of the continuous population growth. We need to

empower women, have a better sex education, be more accessible in using contraceptives, promote

family planning, and changes in policy.

Objectives of the Study

This study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What causes overpopulation in the Philippines?

2. How does overpopulation affects the people in the Philippines?

3. What are the statiscal reports and the government's plan regarding the

overpopulation in the Philippines?

Particularly, the following are the purposes required that needs to be actualised:

1. To know the causes of overpopulation in the Philippines.

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2. To identify the effects of overpopulation in the Philippines.

3. To determine the statistical reports and the government's plan regarding the

overpopulation in the Philippines?

Significance of the Study

Everything in this world has its own significance as well as this study. The following are

the importance of this study that also give benefits to the readers:

1. This study will give more informations and new knowledge especially to the students,

teachers and also the future researchers that might have the same topic with this.

2. It will helps the people to be more aware of the circumstances related to the global issue

of overpopulation occurring in our country.

3. It will particularly make the people be more ready or prepared in the prevention of

overpopulation in our country.

Review of Related Literature

In this part presents the related literature of this study that includes our purposes together

with the objectives with the help of other's ideas, finished thesis, generalizations or conclusion and

proven statements that sometimes were done by an authorized person who are involved in

particular writings, articles, or statistical reports. Most of these contributed a lot to the outcome of

our study. Overpopulation has caused different disastrous results that has affected our economical,

environmental and social status. That is why in the first term of the newly elected Philippine

president proposes a solution to manage and prevent the population explosion in our country.

According to President Rodrigo Duterte (2016), he proposes three-child policy to stem

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"overpopulation" in the Southeast Asian nation. As Filipinos, this solution he came up was not bad

enough because not just the safety of the Filipinos he is securing but also the future that lies ahead.

Though he argued first to the institution of the Catholic Church like what he had said, "I'm a

Christian, but I'm a realist so we have to do something with our overpopulation. I will defy the

opinion or the belief of the Church." He's willing to conquer of what's obstructive in his way to

reach the country's triumph.

The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) is also one of the president's

created constitution through the help of the Filipinos who are acknowledging the solutions to

manage and prevent the overpopulation in which it updates us to the current number of population

in our country. According to the POPCOM (2019), the number of Filipinos living are around 109

million recorded last December 31, 2019. They also said that this coming months of 2020 will

increase the population unexpectedly based on the latest population census of the Philippine

Statistics Authority (PSA) last 2015. Moreover, the former president of the Philippines, Benigno

Aquino III (2014), made another push for the stalled reproductive health law, he said remarkably,

"You are a parent, you bring children into this world, you have responsibilities." This means that

responsible parenthood is more important in making your future be better. His statement was

particularly right because he just literally prove that in every action taken, responsibilities should

be granted.

Discussion

The occurrence of population explosion in the Philippines was very sudden. It seems that

in the past, our environment has been more peaceful since there are few people living in our
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country but now it's the opposite. The number of our country's population is projected to grow in

a short period of time. Overpopulation will place great demands on resources and land for building

homes that leads to widespread environmental issues together with the impacts to our local

economies and also the standards of living. There are lots of factors that contribute to

overpopulation causing different bad effects in the first place. Poverty is believed to be the leading

cause of overpopulation. A lack of educational resources joined with high death rates leading to

higher birth rates that results in the depletion of areas and people are becoming a squatter. Poor

contraceptive use are also involved. Though the availability of contraceptives is widespread in our

country but poor planning on both partners' sides can lead to unexpected pregnancies, making the

birth rate to increase. Moreover, as distressing as it may be to hear, child labor is still used

extensively in many places of the Philippines. Some Filipino children works to sustain their family

needs and because of it they lose the educational opportunities that makes them unaware of having

a plan for their family when they grow up. Furthermore, reduced mortality rates also causes a lot

of negative effects. Improvement in medical technology has led to lower mortality rates. Though

this is positive news in many ways, it also means that people are living longer than ever before.

This means that the death rate will decrease and the birth rate will increase making the space or

area inadequate to fill. Also, fertility treatment contributes as a factor of overpopulation. Though

it only plays a minor role in comparison to the other causes of overpopulation, improved fertility

treatments have made it possible for more people to have children. According to a professional,

the number of women using various fertility treatments has been on the rise since their inception.

Now most have the option of conceiving children, even if they may not have been able to do so

without such treatments. In addition to the causes of overpopulation in our country is the

immigration. Unchecked immigration into countries may lead to overpopulation to the point where
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those countries have no longer the required resources for their population. This is particularly

problematic in countries where immigration numbers far exceed emigration numbers. In some

cases, immigrants may be attempting to escape overpopulation in their own countries, only to

contribute to the same issues in the countries they move to. However, data also exists to show the

immigration can reinforce the economic status with the effect of increased in employment. There

are many causes of overpopulation in the Philippines but what I have already mentioned above are

the most common factors that contributed. As a student, in our point of view, the best solution to

prevent the continuous population growth is the self-discipline and taking seriously the

responsibilities. Also, as a Filipino, we should all remember that whatever the problem is, there’s

always a solution. Maybe right now our answer is not that strong enough to solve it, maybe there’s

still missing that is why it is invalid and impossible to use. And that's our duty to figure out the

possible solutions and preventions to manage overpopulation on our own for a reason is that the

answer is inside ourselves that not all of us sees it because we always turn blind eyes just not to be

involved and acting like all innocent. This thing is really bad to do but right now, some of us are

doing this.

Summary and Concluding Discussion

Overpopulation is a situation in which the number of population exceeds the initial

sustainability and it also means that there are huge number of people compared to resources

available for consumption. Different factors are causing the sudden population explosion in the

Philippines. Such as, poverty, poor contraceptive use, child labor, reduced mortality rates, fertility

treatment, immigration and many more. As a result, it affects the daily lives of the Filipinos living

and even the plants and animals are involved. The possible solutions and preventions are having a
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better sex education, be more accessible in using contraceptives, empower women, promote family

planning and have changes in policy. But as a Filipino, the best answer is to have a better manner

towards our responsibilities.

In conclusion, many lives are affected by the population explosion especially the one who

are living in the Philippines and also the different plants and animals are included in this disastrous

occurrence. Also, the growth of population puts larger demands on our already limited resources.

That is why our government made laws and plans regarding to it, such as, establishment of

POPCOM or Commission on Population, The Population Act or the RA 6365, The Population

Management Program (PPMP) in 1993, and Responsible Parenthood and Family Planning

Program which was ordered by President Duterte to the DOH or Department of Health and

POPCOM. If the Philippines population management policies and programs have had no

measurable impact on population growth, they have produced one notable outcome.
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