The fertility rate in the Philippines declined during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte, the executive director of the Commission on Population said in a radio interview on Sunday.

Undersecretary Juan Antonio Perez said the fertility rate of 2.7 births per woman in 2016 has decreased to 1.8 in the past six years.

"In 2016, before the term of President Duterte started, the...number of children were two, three and some were four," he said.

"As of now based on the data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority, the size of a household in the Philippines now is 4.1. It means it consists of a husband and wife and two children," he added.

Perez explained that the number of children per household has reduced from 2-4 to less than two as of 2021.

"(National Economic and Development Authority) Secretary Karl Chua declared that the fertility rate in the Philippines now is 1.8 from 2.7, the number of children of women in the Philippines," he said.

"As of 2021, it is just 1.8, with less than two offspring," he added.

Perez said aside from the implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH), the COVID-19 pandemic also affected population growth.

"This is because of the intensified implementation of RPRH law. Our family planning program has become widespread. A total of eight million are now using family planning. When President Duterte started it was just six million, so those who are using family planning have increased to two million," he said.

"Because of COVID, Filipino couples also choose to avoid pregnancy, which is why the population growth in 2020 and 2021 is below one million. Actually last year, 2021 it is just 400,000," he added.

It can be recalled that in his last Talk to The People address on May 12, President Rodrigo Duterte said every Filipino household should have a maximum of three children.

"The problem of the Filipinos, it is hard to promote ligation because the husbands do not like it. It might be true for some but not all, but fundamentally if your children reached three it should be enough," said Durterte. Robina Asido/DMS