To all “macho” Filipino guys desiring to sire more children than they could probably handle, or feed, clothe and send to school, read this.
The Commission on Population (Popcom) is pressing for Filipino men’s deeper involvement in reproductive health as measure to control any further growth in population.
In an e-mail to the BusinessMirror, Popcom Executive Director Dr. Juan A. Perez III said the so-called macho culture among Filipino equates virility with the number of children a man has.
As a result, Perez said, there is persistently higher fertility among the poor. Among the poorest quintile, the average family size of 4 to 6 and highest quintile have 1 to 2 children.
“Males in the Philippines—and in many developing countries as well—have a significant and influential role in the fertility of women they are married to, or in a relationship at all age groups,” Perez said.
Based on the Young Adult Fertility Survey of 2013, Perez said males who are considered batang ama at 15 to 19 years old want to have three children, while women who are batang ina at the same age want only two children.
Perez said these preferences reflect those of older couple based on the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2017 and other similar surveys conducted earlier.
Based on these, fertility preferences of males are higher than females. Males want 3 to 4 children while females want only 2 to 3 children.
“The consequence has been high fertility among women in vulnerable situations—poor women with lower educational achievement, women married or in relationships with older men—who are on the receiving end of this toxic macho environment,” Perez said.
With this, Popcom and the Department of Health (DOH) decided to create KATROPA or Kalalakihang Tapat sa Responsibilidad at Obligasyon sa Pamilya program.
The Popcom earlier said the program called on men to be more responsible and proactive participants as marital partners, fathers, and even as father-figures to their communities.
Perez said direct participation of men in KATROPA and in the reproductive health classes have been increasing over the years.
In 2019, around 1.88 million men, women, and couples attended the Popcom and the Department of Health’s reproductive health classes nationwide. This included over 1.2 million couples; 538,644 females; and 56,595 males.
Popcom said city and municipal chiefs who have also lent their voices in support of KATROPA include Pasig City Mayor Victor Ma. Regis “Vico” Sotto, Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez and San Juan City Mayor Francisco Javier “Francis” Zamora.
Sotto and Gomez vowed to back the movement through their video messages posted in the “Usap Tayo Sa Family Planning” Facebook page which has gained considerable engagements in the social-media network.
Local government units’ also adopted the initiative and localized it as “Mentako” in Cordillera Administrative Region which means “Lalaki Tayo” in Igorot dialect and “ITAY” which stands for “Itaguyod mo Tatay ang Yaman ng Buhay” in Tagaytay and in Region 4A.
In Remigio, Cebu, the program was named MARPA which stands for Men In Action Of Responsible Parenthood or “Kalalakihan Tinud-anay sa ilang Responsibilidad ug Obligasyon sa Pamilya.