My article entitled "A Two-Child Policy in the Catholic Philippines?" has been published in the May, 2009 issue of the Catholic World Report published by Ignatius Press. It can be found at pp. 34-35.
The Philippines remains one of the bastions of pro-life legislation in the world, with a Constitution that explicitly proclaims the family as the foundation of the nation (Article XV section 1) and affirms the sanctity of unborn life beginning from conception (Article II, Section 12). Nevertheless, creeping secularization and the spread of "modern" sexual mores to the Philippines has been manifesting itself in the decline of Church marriages, the increase of cohabitation, the widespread use of contraception (the Philippines is now down to 1.95% annual population growth rate) and the public's acceptance of permissive sexual attitudes.
The current legislative drive for laws pushing for more aggressive promotion of contraception and legalizing divorce and abortion has the "two-child policy" as one of its cornerstones. While the legislators pushing for this claim that no force and no punitive measures will be employed as the state "assists" families in meeting this ideal, the reality on the ground is that local government officials can be expected to be rather aggressive in pushing for zero or negative population growth in their areas, once the bills that embody this mentality are passed into law.
