"I believe the children are our future, teach them well..."

It is a scene we see everyday. For thousands of drivers and commuters plying the streets of Metro Manila, the malnourished children begging on street corners, knocking on your car windows, tugging at your shirt while you wait to cross the street…..Sadly, most of us have been jaded by such scenes. Some of us are no longer affected when we see their hungry faces looking up and begging for attention. I, for one, have to admit my guilty of such apathy in the past. Not today, however.

As I navigated the rain-soaked streets earlier, hungry eyes stared at me, not only begging for food and some spare change but seemingly asking why they are in such a state. One by one, as I passed their thin frames through Manila’s

notorious traffic, their eyes seemed to be asking the same question. I didn’t have the answer, I don’t have the answer. What I have are more questions. In fact, it’s the same question they seem to be asking me, “Why?”

I suddenly recalled that famous song by Whitney Houston, singing it in my head: "I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way...." But how can they lead in such a sorry state? Children have the right to food, shelter and education so that they can do all that, and it is the responsibility of their parents to provide them with these. In almost all cases, however, their parents are in similar want of such basic needs, and are products of a poor and malnourished upbringing as well. It’s a cycle, a scary loop that has to end somehow. This is where the state has to come in, not only in giving the necessary material aid to these individuals but also in teaching them the value of responsible parenthood and birth control. This, I think, is one of the root causes of this problem.

The Philippine government’s (non) policy on family planning and birth control has to change. Its adherence to the Church’s position against birth control has to be abandoned because I think it is an outdated policy. The current global problems of population explosion, food shortage, depletion of the earth’s resources and environmental abuse dictate that we re-examine such policies and change them if need. It may be too late if we don’t.

(This post was written in support of Bloggers Unite for Human Rights)

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