Culture, contraception, and population legislation: insights from the discourses on the proposed "two-child policy" in the Philippines

Violeda Umali, University of the Philippines

This paper analyzes the debate generated by the “two-child policy” filed in the Philippine House of Representatives using discourse analysis, with the main goal of surfacing the values and norms that underlie the differing sentiments which sectors and individuals hold about the two-child policy itself and population policy/program interventions in the country as a whole. Data sources for this study are the a) media materials focusing on the “two-child policy” and b) focus group discussions (FGDs) to be conducted with community residents. Media materials will come from print and internet sources. From a practical perspective, the study endeavours to contribute to the identification of strategies and approaches that could help move the Philippines’ population program forward. From a heuristic perspective, the study thus hopes to contribute to the literature investigating the connection between cultural norms and demographic behaviours, and to those that explore “alternative” methodologies for studying demographic/population issues.