Priests blamed for overpopulation

Priests blamed for overpopulation

MANILA (AFP): President Fidel Ramos' wife, Amelita, blamed Roman Catholic church leaders and their opposition to birth control for the population explosion in the Philippines.

"We just have too many people. We can never build enough schools, we won't be able to produce enough food, the mass transportation will never catch up with our birth rate," the Protestant first lady told reporters.

Ramos, a schoolmistress, criticized Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Sin's vocal opposition of her husband's population program, which promotes artificial contraceptives as a means to curb the 2.2 percent annual birth rate of this Catholic Asian nation of 65 million.

"I wish he would do more instead of telling the people to multiply some more," the first lady said.