On Sunday, Jorge Madlos, NDF-Mindanao spokesperson, warned that the rebels would initiate more tactical offensives following US President George W. Bush's promise to give more "bullets and bombs" to government forces. Madlos said that Bush's promise of extending more aid to Mindanao is aimed at undermining the Bangsamoro people's "legitimate" demand for independence and lure the public to the US side.

But Adriatico said that "Madlos is just fabricating stories to conceal their real situation and their setbacks, especially now that their top leaders surrendered because they can no longer bear being in a worthless struggle and the recent arrest of their fighters in Compostela Valley Province by elements of the 36th Infantry Battalion." Adriatico said that the military have intensified their operation against the communist rebels, beefed up their security forces to thwart NPA attacks and are on a high level of alert.

Adriatico explained "tactical offensive" is a term applied to holding an area and then expanding it by pushing forces forward to gain ground. The phrase is also used during conventional warfare by legitimate forces. But Madlos uses it to describe the atrocities and crimes of his underground movement.

Tomas Osias, national executive director of POPCOM, told Minda News that previous studies on family and health revealed a necessity to intensify education campaigns on reproductive health and family planning. Hence the need to have a dialogue with Moslem leaders to formulate the fatwah that would guide our Moslems on this subject. "We need responsible parenthood and the ability to respond to the needs of the children," he said.

However, Imam Jamaludden Abdulwahab of the Taqwa Mosque here, told Minda News that family planning is "strictly prohibited in the Koran except if the woman cannot conceive any more because of sickness." He added that it is not the Moslem parents who rear their children but Allah, who dwells in the lives of all Moslems. Abdulwahad did not receive an invitation to the dialogue.

According to an article entitled "Is Family Planning Allowed in Islam?" in www.jannah.org written by Sheikh al-Din Jamaal Zarabozo and the findings of the Majma al-Fiqh al-Islaami composed of 23 Moslem scholars Islam does not allow to enact a general law limiting the freedom of spouses to have children. The article states: "It is forbidden to 'permanently' end a man's or a woman's ability to produce children by having a hysterectomy or vasectomy, unless this is called for by circumstances of necessity according to its Islamic framework." However, according to the same article, "it is permissible to control the timing of births with the intent of distancing the occurrences of pregnancy or to delay it for a specific amount of time" with the mutual agreement of spouses, if there is a need for it provided for in the Shariah.

According to a 2002 National Statistics Office Report, Moslems in Mindanao have a 3.86% annual population growth rate, the country's highest, as compared to the 2.36% national growth rate. The region also has the lowest contraceptive prevalence rate at 8.1%, compared to the 35.1% national average.

Osias said the Moslem religious leaders will give their comments and recommendations on the initial draft of the national fatwah read by Sheik Abdulwahab Mohammad Pak, vice-chairman of Darul Iftah. He added that the "modifications of the draft will be incorporated and processed" to become the basis of the national fatwah for Moslems on reproductive health and family planning. By January 2004, the proposed national fatwah will be presented to the national conference of Moslem religious leaders, who will be asked for their approval to implement it and disseminate it.

Meanwhile, Senator Rodolfo Biazon told a press conference at the Philippine Information Agency that the problems of the country can be traced to "population management." He claimed that President Macapagal-Arroyo has not defined a population policy for the 82 million Filipinos increasing at the rate of 2.36% each year, adding it that it seems that she opposes family planning. "[The government] can hardly provide basic education for the children of 82 million Filipinos… [or] the basic health care needs and shelter for the families as the backlog in housing continues to increase," he said.

The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) reported that the Philippine Republic is now the 13th most populous country in the world. The National Statistics Office in its 2000 census estimated the population at 76.5 million, up by 11% from the 68.6 million in 1995.

Biazon argued that the proposal of director-general Romulo Neri of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), to leave the problem of population to the local government bodies, is not a solution. "The whole country is affected so we must have one population policy [that is] national in nature and scope," he said. While some people consider abortion as an option to reduce population, Biazon said "it is a crime under the law and it is also a sin."

Abdulwahab said Islamic teachings also consider abortion a sin.

Biazon said that a study conducted by the University of the Philippines shows that every year there are 400,000 to 500,000 reported cases of abortion in the Philippines and that every day 10 women die from abortion. He added that according to the same study, unwanted pregnancy is the main cause of abortion and preventing unwanted pregnancy prevents abortion.