Technological Institute of the Philippines

Chemical Engineering Department

363 P. Casal St, Quiapo, Manila

Overpopulation: A Comparative Study of the

Philippines' Growing Population
From Year 2010-2018

Paz, Angelee Mirage S.

Penera, Francisco
Pinoon, Kenjhay Karl
Raymundo, Troy
Realce, Zorin R.

Submitted To:
Dr. Leonila S. Cruz

March 7,, 2019

 CHAPTER I

Background of the Study

Overpopulation is the condition of having a population so dense as to cause

environmental deterioration, an impaired quality of life, or a population crash (Miriam-
Webster Dictionary, 2019). Biologically, it refers to a population which exceeds its
sustainable size within a particular environment or habitat (Li, 2014). It results from an
increased birth rate, decreased death rate, and the immigration to a new ecological
niche with fewer predators, or the sudden decline in available resources. Therefore,
overpopulation describes a situation in which a population in a given ecosystem limit the
resources available for survival.

Such phenomena are brought by various causes and effect which were not
tolerated and gauged immediately by the authorities. One of the prominent causes of
such phenomena is the early pregnancy where most of the youths are involved – they
bear newborn as early as the age of 15-19 for women which accordingly from the
Philippine Statistics Authority that 14 percent of Filipino girls are either pregnant for the
first time or are already mothers, vis-à-vis the inability to provide the needs of the child.
Furthermore, seventy-eight percent are not using any form of contraception or
protection during sexual intercourse that had raised the rate of sexually transmitted
diseases and infections which are acquired during first time intercourses. Other causes
of overpopulation involves the lack of family planning and sex education which are
essential tools to develop awareness to the society to avoid any corresponding
consequences.

On the other hand, overpopulation has various effect to the society. An increase
of population means also a greater demand for basic goods and necessities, civil rights
and sustenance from the government in times of calamities and natural disasters.
Moreover, overpopulation could alter the demography of a certain area where which
government lands and lots are squatted and tenanted by informal settlers or worse are
the citizens who cannot afford to buy land, build their houses and worst, they are
hindered in raising their family. Moreover, it threatens the well-being and/or health of a
certain individual, education – lack of educational finance, and security brought by the
increase of crime rates due to hunger and poverty.

Globally, overpopulation is one of the major problem and trending issues of the
global community, which had led to famine for other countries due to shortage of basic
goods needed for survival, higher mortality and lesser death rate and increase of
endemic diseases which are not easily responded by the government due to countless
number of practitioners and authorities concerned.

“Too many people. Too little space” - the Philippines has one of the fastest
growing populations in Southeast Asia. Having fifty million inhabitants in 1980, the
Philippines today is home to around ninety million people with 11 million living in Manila
only. Living place is increasingly saturated. This overcrowding has caused a range of
problems such as lack of education, lack of healthcare, unemployment and general
poverty. Moreover, the country is observably experiencing today the threat of
overpopulation. The presence of informal settlers from different island of the country
insisting to live nearby the river banks and highly risked areas during calamities and
massive rains, the increase of crime rate such as robbery, snatching and worst hold-ups
and the remarkable congestion of the city lands in times of obscure phenomena such as
household fires and demolitions, one can say the country is at risk due to the bursting
number of inhabitants in the vicinity of the country.

Statement of the Problem

Due to the annual outrage of the Philippine Population, the researcher conducted
the study that sought to compare the following:
1. What are the differences between the annual population growth rates of the
Philippines of which the surveys were conducted?
2. What are the changes in the population index of the Philippines eight (8) years
ago from 2018?
3. What could be the possible population of the Philippines 10 years from now, if the
population flow increases or decreases?
Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study focused on the comparison of the annual growth rate of the Philippines
over the past eight years and aimed to distinguish sustainable size of the country
comparing the human population growth incurring globalization through 2010-2018.

The study was limited for the Philippines only, which is the subject of the study
that would suffice the data needed.

The study was also limited for existing data gathered thru the internet and with
the surveys conducted by authorities within the limited year span of 2010-2018.

Significance of the Study

The study is a comparative analysis on the growing population of the Philippines

from year 2010-2018, which is approximately eight years ago. It was conducted to give
credence about the prevailing situation of the current Philippine situation regarding
overpopulation.

The study would be significant to the following:

Government. They would be able to evaluate the impact and consequence of

population growth on society, incurring amendments and promotion of laws and orders,
in response to the threatening increase of population.

Society. Nurture population policy and population measures, provided the

knowledge of causes of population growth and government's efforts, and to develop
awareness on the population dynamics.

Industry. It will emphasize the manpower management and resource

development.

Student (s). Know the merit of small family, causes of urbanization and its related
problems, and the causes of ecological imbalance. They would also gain awareness
about population matters, environment, and supply and demand of essential
commodities would be uplifted.
 Researcher (s). They would be able to have a surfboard for their further research
studies.

CHAPTER II

Review of Related Literature

Overpopulation is the condition of having a population so dense as to cause

environmental deterioration, an impaired quality of life, or a population crash (Miriam-
Webster Dictionary, 2019). Biologically, it refers to a population which exceeds its
sustainable size within a particular environment or habitat (Li, 2014). It results from an
increased birth rate, decreased death rate, and the immigration to a new ecological
niche with fewer predators, or the sudden decline in available resources. Therefore,
overpopulation describes a situation in which a population in a given ecosystem limit the
resources available for survival.

According to Paul and Anne Ehrlich (1990), human overpopulation occurs when
the ecological footprint of a human population in a specific geographical location
exceeds the carrying capacity of the place occupied by that group. Moreover,
overpopulation can further be viewed, in a long term perspective, as existing when a
population cannot be maintained given the rapid depletion of non-renewable
resources or given the degradation of the capacity of the environment to give support to
the population. Furthermore, the term human overpopulation also refers to the
relationship between the entire human population and its environment, the Earth or to
smaller geographical areas such as countries (Guardian.co.uk, 2016).

Growing advances in technology with each coming year has affected humanity in
many ways. One of these has been the ability to save lives and create better medical
treatment for all. A direct result of this has been increased lifespan and the growth of the
population. In the past fifty or so years, the growth of population has boomed and has
turned into overpopulation. In the history of our species, the birth and death rate have
always been able to balance each and maintain a population growth rate that is
sustainable.

Analogous with the findings, overpopulation are caused by various factors which
are uncontrolled and still being sought for remedies and solutions. According to
Conserve Energy Future (2018) these factors involves:

First, decline in the death rate: The root of overpopulation is the difference
between the overall birth rate and death rate in populations, thus, if the number of
children born each year equals the number of adults that die, then the population will
stabilize. Talking about overpopulation shows that while there are many factors that can
increase the death rate for short periods of time, the ones that increase the birth rate do
so over a long period of time. The discovery of agriculture by our ancestors was one
factor that provided them with the ability to sustain their nutrition without hunting. This
created the first imbalance between the two rates.

Second, improvement and upgrade of medical facilities which came the industrial
revolution. Technological advancement was perhaps the biggest reason why the
balance has been permanently disturbed. Science was able to produce better means of
producing food, which allowed families to feed more mouths. Medical science made
many discoveries thanks to which they were able to defeat a whole range of diseases.
Illnesses that had claimed thousands of lives till now were cured because of the
invention of vaccines. Combining the increase in food supply with fewer means of
mortality tipped the balance and became the starting point of overpopulation. Third,
more hands to overcome poverty: For thousands of years, a very small part of the
population had enough money to live in comfort. The rest faced poverty and would give
birth to large families to make up for the high infant mortality rate. Families that have
been through poverty, natural disasters or are simply in need of more hands to work are
a major factor for overpopulation. As compared to earlier times, most of these extra
children survive and consume resources that are not sufficient in nature.

Also, technological advancement in fertility treatment with the latest technological

advancement and more discoveries in medical science, it has become possible for
couple who are unable to conceive to undergo fertility treatment methods and have their
own babies. Today there are effective medicines which can increases the chance of
conception and lead to rise in birth rate. Moreover, due to modern techniques
pregnancies today are far safer.
 Another, lack of family planning most especially in developing nations have large
number of people who are illiterate, live below the poverty line and have little or no
knowledge about family planning. Getting their children married at an early age increase
the chances of producing more kids. Those people are unable to understand the
harmful effects of overpopulation and lack of quality education prompts them to avoid
family planning measures.

Lastly, immigration wherein many people prefer to move to developed countries

like US, UK, Canada and Australia where best facilities are available in terms of
medical, education, security and employment. The end result is that those people settle
over there and those places become overcrowded. Difference between the number of
people who are leaving the country and the number of people who enter narrows down
which leads to more demand for food, clothes, energy and homes. This gives rise to
shortage of resources. Though the overall population remains the same, it just affects
the density of population making that place simply overcrowded.

This means that overpopulation could not be evaluated as caused by a certain

issue alone but it could also be in a multitude ways were population is generated as
time passes.

The Philippines has one of the fastest growing populations in Southeast Asia.
Having fifty million inhabitants in 1980, the Philippines today is home to around ninety
million people with 11 million living in Manila only. In 2014, the United Nations (UN)
ranked the Philippines as the 12th most populated country with a population which had
risen to 100 hundred million (Jaymalin, 2018). The overcrowding has caused a range of
problems such as lack of education, lack of healthcare, unemployment and general
poverty.

Moreover, the country is observably experiencing today the threat of

overpopulation. The presence of informal settlers from different island of the country
insisting to live nearby the river banks and highly risked areas during calamities and
massive rains, the increase of crime rate such as robbery, snatching and worst hold-ups
and the remarkable congestion of the city lands in times of obscure phenomena such as
household fires and demolitions, one can say the country is at risk due to the bursting
number of inhabitants in the vicinity of the country.

CHAPTER III

Research Design

The study employed a comparative qualitative research design for it aimed to

compare the annual population growth rate of the Philippines from year 2010 to 2018 in
terms of its number of birth and death rates and population indices, through observation
and recoding outcomes without manipulation. Comparative qualitative research design
is a research method which essentially compares two or more groups in an attempt to
draw conclusion with the information and/or data gathered non-experimentally
(Richardson, 2018). Furthermore, it is used by researchers to identify and analyze
similarities and differences between groups (data).

Data Gathering and Analysis

The researchers used the recent surveys available thru the internet, of which was
conducted recently and validated by the authorities. The raw data that was used then
was treated and analyzed using the chi-square test which tests a null hypothesis stating
that the frequency distribution of certain events observed in a sample is consistent with
a particular theoretical distribution (Lumen, 2018).

Ethical Issues and Considerations

The study has no ethical issues and consideration.

Definition of Terms