Medium and High Fertility Regions in the Philippines: Issues and Explanations

Josefina V. Cabigon, University of the Philippines

In line with the population and other development programs on the hands of local governments according to the Local Government Code in 1991, the poster focuses on the medium and high fertility regions answering the question: ‘What are the main factors that make them differ from the low fertility regions?’. Unmet need, early childbearing and the role of proximate determinants using the Bongaarts model are the main thrusts using the 1993 NDS and 1998 NDHS. The role of decentralization in population program implementation and some unique socioeconomic and cultural constraints or restraints are also explored in each of these three societies. Of the 16 regions, two exhibit a total fertility rate (TFR) of 3 or below 3 (low fertility), five regions show a TFR ranging from 3.52 to 3.7 (medium fertility), and 9 regions reveal a TFR ranging from 3.9 to 5.91 (high fertility) according to the latest 1998 NDHS.