Population
The population of the Philippines has continued to grow steadily. The Philippine National Statistics Office projected the total population at 82.7 million in 2004, and 84.2 million in 2005. The U.S. estimate for total population was 86.2 million in July 2004. The annual population growth rate from 1995 to 2000 was nearly 2.4 percent but was projected to decrease to less than 1.9 percent during the 20002005 period. There has been a continuing trend of internal migration from rural to urban areas since at least 1991. According to the 2000 census, 52 percent of the population lived in rural areas and 48 percent in urban areas, including about 12 percent who lived in the National Capital Region, or Metropolitan Manila.
The government has tried to implement family-planning program, however this was
thwarted by stiff opposition from the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church see
Popcom population control. Church
pronouncements in the late 1980s and early 1990s focused on injustice, graft and corruption,
and mismanagement of resources as the fundamental causes of Philippine underdevelopment.
These issues were in turn linked to the concentration of control of economic resources and
the structure of the economy. Land ownership was highly unequal, but land reform initiatives
had made little progress.
In urban areas also, the extent of poverty was related to the concentrated control
of wealth. Considerable portions of both industry and finance were highly monopolized.
Access to finance was severely limited to those who already possessed resources. The most
profitable investment opportunities were often in areas in which tariff or other forms of
government protection ensured high profits but did not necessarily result in rapidly expanding
employment opportunities. In her election campaign President Aquino pledged to destroy the
monopolies and structures of privilege aggravated by the Marcos regime. She looked to the
private sector to revitalize the economy, create jobs for the masses of Filipinos, and lead
the society to a higher standard of living. The state-protected monopolies were dismantled,
but not the monopoly structure of the Philippine economy that existed long before Marcos
assumed power. In their privileged positions, the business elite did not live up to the
President's expectations. As a consequence, unemployment and, more importantly for the issue
of poverty, underemployment remained widespread.
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