¡¡¡¡MANILA, Aug. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Philippine lawmakers on Thursday urged the government to spell out a definite population managementprogram that would defuse the ticking population time bomb.

¡¡¡¡Senator Edgardo Angara, one of the 60 lawmakers who crossed party lines to draft a statement of concern on the country's unmanaged population growth, said a "third choice" should be put in place.

¡¡¡¡"There should be an educated and responsible choice and this should be the anchor of the population management policy," he was quoted by the Philippine News Agency as saying.

¡¡¡¡He said the population boom and the timid economic growth rate combined to push millions of Filipinos deeper into poverty.

¡¡¡¡Of the 80 million Filipinos, 32 million are living below the poverty line and one in six pregnancies end up being aborted, a government report has said.

¡¡¡¡The lawmakers urged the government to include in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's policy priority the population variables.

¡¡¡¡They also urged the Congress to enact laws ensuring full respect for reproductive rights and health of couples. Likewise, they called for the establishment of local population offices thatwould encourage government to formulate population and developmentprograms. Enditem

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