Accelerated demographic and economic transition calls for resolute socioeconomic policies

Population management seemed to have gotten underway quite well in 1970. But no sooner had the program gained traction than the Roman Catholic hierarchy and conservative groups voiced their strong opposition to family planning, which President Marcos, Sr. accommodated for political expediency. Thus, with a failed family planning program, declining fertility – a necessary condition for demographic transition towards faster economic growth, higher employment, and poverty reduction could not be achieved. A hugely missed opportunity graphically illustrated when comparing the Philippines and Thailand in particular, which had virtually identical key demographic-economic indicators in 1970 but drastically diverged by 2020. Apparently, the former ‘sowed the wind and is reaping the whirlwind’ – a cogent motivation moving forward for overcoming failures and balancing population and the economy better by adopting judiciously chosen policy options.