Gov't may use rice crisis to push for population control - church exec

MANILA, Philippines - A Cebu church official on Thursday warned that government might sooner or later use the rice crisis as another argument in pushing for population control. Msgr. Achilles Dakay, spokesman of the Archdiocese of Cebu, said the government is likely to aggressively push for birth control, including artificial methods that the Church strongly opposes. "The Archdiocese of Cebu is concerned the government may start to distribute condoms as means to solve the reported shortage of rice," Dakay said in an interview on a local radio station. Excerpts of the interview were posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website Thursday evening. Dakay noted earlier reports attributing the current rice shortage to the population growth, which government statistics pegged at 2.36 percent as of 2000 census. He said government may consider the situation as a "convenient time to aggressively implement its population control programs despite the long-dispelled Malthusian myth that population is directly commensurate with food supply or other resources." The Church has remained steadfast in its position that while growing population is a problem, he said. He added it is not the problem especially in the present context when the issue of population and resource management is being questioned. - GMANews.TV