The Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines (CDC Ph) reported alarming data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that shows the decline of birth rates noted from the start of the pandemic, saying that these low birth rates reflect the impact of lockdowns and restriction on the mobility of the citizens.
Based on the updated monthly vital statistics released by PSA on January 6, births are declining, and this decline is accelerating. From an average of 139,500 births a month in 2019, it went down to 127,400/month in 2020 and 101,400/month in January-September 2021. There were nearly 150,000 fewer births in 2020 compared with 2019, and there will be around 300,000 fewer births in 2021 than 2020.
According to Dr. Rafael Castillo, a cardiologist at Manila Doctors and past member of the Professional Regulatory Board of Medicine Hospital, the data shows that lockdowns are devastating for families and affect their willingness and ability to have children.
“It may be easy to attribute the decreasing birth rate to the overall effect of the pandemic, but the isolated crossing of the lines in September 2021—with the number of deaths exceeding the number of births—does not seem to herald yet a depopulation mode in our country. But if that trend persists, then we may have to start considering it and start making long-term projections,” said Dr. Castillo.
Former CDC Ph President Dr. Benigno “Iggy” Agbayani, Jr. said, “These statistics on the decline of births have a huge implication on the longest, most expensive, and tyrannical health protocols our country has ever tried. Unbridled lockdowns and experimental vaccinations are the most likely suspects in these sudden low birth rates. An investigation by independent and credible experts should be launched as soon as possible.”
CDC Ph also stated that the PSA’s vital statistics reveals fewer marriages in 2020 due to the strict lockdown. Based on the said report, on average, there were 40,000 marriages/month in 2019, then there was a drastic decline to only 20,065 in 2020, with the biggest decline in April-May 2020 with only 866 and 4,135 marriages, respectively. Economic and health/psychological stress must have also contributed to fewer babies for young married couples.
The incumbent President of CDC Ph Dr. Homer Lim, said that these low birth rates are quite alarming and that the government should end all lockdowns.
“ The world-renowned scientist Albert Einstein once spoke words to this effect, saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” Dr. Lim shared.
“Data from all over the world has already proven that lockdowns do not work precisely because the virus is an aerosol. One cannot stop an aerosol from spreading all over the country. Punishing our people and the economy with more lockdowns will help no one but the monopolists now running the country. The Administration needs to face the facts. The DOH, PSMID, PMA, OCTA, Dr. Edsel Salvaña, and Company were wrong, and Sweden was right. Also right were the authors of The Great Barrington Declaration: Stanford’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Oxford’s Dr. Sunetra Gupta, and Harvard’s Dr. Martin Kulldorff.”
“It is time for the government to stop taking bad advice from our so-called ‘experts’ and advisers with serious conflicts of interest and who, in this pandemic, have been proven wrong over and over again in the last two years. It is time to start listening to the true experts because it is they who got it right.”
