KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (30 May 2013) –The audience gasped when the video showed a mother saying she has 22 children. Yes, twenty-two. There was head shaking and jaw dropping, as it was unthinkable for most of the delegates, both men and women, from many countries attending the three-day Women Deliver 2013 conference here ending on Thursday, that someone in the world gave birth to 22 children.   

The mother was a Filipina.

 

This video clip gave viewers a snapshot of what it is like in the Philippines, where there are many women who give no thought to family planning. We’ve heard it said before, in Filipino movies and elsewhere, that children can help a family get out of poverty. But just a look around the capital, Manila, says otherwise.

 

Blame it on the country’s Catholicism. The Catholic Church has taught that family planning methods such as the pill and other contraceptives kill life. It only endorses the rhythm method.

 

On Wednesday, Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona told Women Deliver conference delegates that it took 15 years to have the Reproductive Health Law passed in the Philippines.