The road to Mang Pampilo�s house leads to a maze of narrow alleys lined by shanties of varying sizes and conditions of repair. Dotting the area are groups of men and women engaged in conversation, and half naked children running from one puddle of water to another. The shanties are so closely built near Mang Pampilo�s house that the generously endowed will have to walk sideways to reach his doorstep.

�Nung nalipat kami dito, kakaunti pa lang ang tao,� observed Mang Pampilo who moved to Welfareville Compound, Mandaluyong some six years ago. �Hindi nga masyadong namamalayan ang pagdami ng tumitira dito, basta bigla na lang sumikip ang mga kalye at hirap na makakuha ng tubig,� he added.

Mang Pampilo is one of many squatters and slum dwellers in Metro Manila who migrated from the province seeking a better life in the city. At present, they comprise around 35 per cent of the urban population. He and others like him contribute to the growing population and rising levels of urbanization in Metro Manila.

Already 10 million strong, Metro Manila is now considered as one of three most problematic megacities in Asia, aside from Bangkok and Jakarta.

The fast tempo of natural increase, the result of crude birth minus deaths, contributes significantly to 60 per cent of urban growth. This means that the rising number of population due to births among migrants and residents contribute more to the rise in the population of Metro Manila, than the actual migration of people from rural to urban areas.

Compounding the situation is the reality that most births occur among families with high level of poverty incidence. According to the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, the highest incidence of poverty, 57.3 per cent, occur among families with nine or more family members. In addition, the National Demographic and Health Survey also revealed that couples who attained the least number of formal education tend to have the most number of children compared to those who reached high school or college.

�Efforts are now geared to reaching out to the poor as they have the highest unmet need in Family Planning,� this according to Commission on Population Executive Director Tomas M. Osias. �Family planning is the single most important step towards arresting poverty and improving social conditions. Healthy families can contribute to development because their individual members are nourished and educated to their fullest potentials," he said.

Osias said that one of the strategies to reach the poor is the use of Family Planning itinerant clinics or mobile clinics. Specifically, trained health workers will visit clients in their homes to provide FP counseling and services especially to mothers who are too busy or do not have the resources to come to health clinics for these services.

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