ccording to wikipedia.org, the online encyclopedia, Manila "With a population of 1,581,082 and a land area of 38.55 km², has the highest population density of any major city in the world with 41,014 people/km²."

The fact that Manila is overpopulated becomes immediately apparent to any returning Filipino. Everywhere you turn see people, dozens of people.

The following piece written by an 18-year old student from Metro Manila, provides a youth's perspective on this issue.

Overpopulation, as I See It
By Regine Cokieng

When I think of the Philippines, I don’t think of Boracay or Imelda's famous shoes. The disturbing thought of the warm and friendly people of the Philippines, suffering from poverty comes first to my mind. As of July 2006, the Philippines has a total population of 89,468,677 and is growing at around 1.8% each year. 40% are below the poverty line, 16.9% are experiencing hunger while 4.2% are experiencing severe hunger. These numbers might be alarming but it doesn’t surprise me that almost half of our population is living a life below what is called "acceptable."

Everyday, while we pass through the streets of Metro Manila, we see adults and children walking around, all dirty, either doing nothing or holding out their palms asking for a few pesos of pity under the scorching heat of the sun. We see hungry Filipinos rummaging through trash, scraping for bits of dirty if not spoiled food to ease the pain of their empty stomachs. Whenever I watch documentaries on television, the stories I see are usually about child labor, severely hungry Filipinos, unemployed Filipinos, OFWs, all saying that the Philippines is experiencing extreme poverty.

It is also a fact that the number of middle class Filipinos is declining fast! They are sinking to the poverty level and they can’t hold on much longer. Now, tell me, should I be surprised? I am alarmed but to be surprised would only mean that I am either ignorant or just plain dense. But where do these problems come from anyway? and why are we in this state?

As a student, I have no clear answer to this and I myself am wondering how we got to this state. But what I do know—as someone who comes from what is called the class B sector—is that the steady rise in population does not come from us. I believe that we are all aware where these alarming numbers come from, the ones who don’t earn enough to support their families! If their numbers continue increasing, they will become even poorer since their needs would increase while their income, if they have any, will stay the same. This fact, and the continued departure of skilled professionals and rich Filipinos from the country should be a major concern.

In order to educate the Class C and D sectors, the government would need the support of those who can help. But if those who can help are gone, how effective will the government's efforts be? And if the Class C and D sectors are not aware that what they are doing is wrong, how can they help themselves? With each new birth from the Class D or maybe even the C sector comes another dependent without anyone to depend on.