Palace, Church, Jonathan, Nathaniel Debate Birth Control in RP

I apologize to those expecting the next topic to be like the one you see in the picture here.  A more relevant and timely discussion is in order and in a lot of ways related - Debate on BIRTH CONTROL in the Philippines. 

Before I move on, though, I cannot prevent myself from saying another nasty comment, "This debate, important and timely as it is right now, should have been over and done with a long long time ago!"  Even before the time of former Health Secretary, Juan Flavier, the government and the churh faced-off quite a number of times about this issue.  Judging (I maybe unfair in doing so but I maybe correct, too) from the partial sections that I saw in this RH Bill HB4110, I still see no closure moving forward.  For heaven's sake and for humanity's sake, Filipinos have to CHOOSE, DECIDE, & ACT.  Effect a closure on this thing, support the decision, and move forward...

Two respected individuals from way back my highschool days are enjoying a healthy exchange in our Yahoo Group board.  On the one hand, there's Jonathan who represents abstinence.  And on the other, Nathaniel who prefers the government position.  Their names could not have been more appropriately thought of by their parents at BIRTH some 42 years ago or so.  I guess I can say the idealistic vs the pragmatic or the perfectionist vs the realist.  These may not sound too good to one of them but they don't mean they are the wrong sides.

The Facts

Without looking at the numbers, no one can argue that the population of the Philippines keeps growing at a very high rate.  A small country which relies heavily on income overseas, it cannot handle the worsening rate of increase in population density.  As part of the solution, the government leaders promote the use of condoms and the church obviously opposes.  There are several other topics on this issue but I am concentrating on this one for the meantime.

Condom

In partial, here is what Wikipedia has to say: "As a method of birth control, male condoms have the advantage of being inexpensive, easy to use, having few side effects, and of offering protection against sexually transmitted diseases. With proper knowledge and application technique—and use at every act of intercourse—women whose partners use male condoms experience a 2% per-year pregnancy rate. Condoms have been used for at least 400 years. Since the 19th century, they have been one of the most popular methods of contraception in the world."

Unfortunately, the mention of STD has come across another topic, PROSTITUTION, which cannot be isolated from our current one.  Let's examine prostitution in the Philippines as briefly as possible without touching on illegal DRUGS.

Nothing enlightens me more than my latest trip to my home country about the extent of the prostitution industry there.  I mean it is quite obvious that a huge number of women (and the men are not far behind) engage themselves in this act for the love of money.  In reference to my disappearance (tackled on another post), an old friend jokingly asked me, "Baka naman nambabae ka lang?"(Maybe, you just went womanizing?) "Bakit mo naman nasabi yan?" (Why do you say that?), I asked him back.  Showing his Bacoor accent, he exclaimed, "E yun ang trend e!  Lahat ng nagbabakasyon, sa Airforce 1 agad ang punta!" (That is the trend!  All vacationists go to Airforce 1 as soon as they arrive).

Countless young women are either willingly or being forced to work as sex slaves in this country.  A word of caution to all parents and guardians:  If your daughters always have a lot of money while they say they work at a call center, make sure their IDs aren't fake.  These girls easily get fake IDs to show parents they are working for some company to hide their real work.  Parents, beware! Thousands of local and foreign customers patronize them and here is where condom sells big time.  Motels and hotels who sometimes "own" these girls also profit.

Can anybody stop prostitution, the oldest profession in the world?  Here in Canada, there is a move to start legalizing it as a way to control things.

To Be Continued...