The Family Planning Survey reports that more than 9 in 10 women who were either using or intend to use modern family-planning methods would be willing to pay for their contraceptive method.

The national figures echo the provincial sentiment as a study conducted in Pangasinan revealed that respondents were willing to pay an average of P23.40 for contraceptive pills and P33.40 for injectables. Respondents are paying an average of P5 for their pills, which are subsidized.

"When couples realize that the economic and health benefits of family planning far outweigh the cost of family-planning services, they will start to have the funds for it. We should seize this opportunity to help than with their decision to protect their family's welfare," said Tomas Osias, Population Commission director.

Majority of family-planning users obtain their supplies such as pills, injectables, condoms and intra-uterine devices (IUDs) from barangay health centers either at a subsidized rate or for free. The said contraceptives are from foreign donors, which started phasing out their donations beginning 2003. By 2009 supplies will no longer be available for free distribution.

Already, consumers are coping by turning to private sector sources. The study notes 6 out of 10 (65 percent) modern family-planning users obtained their supplies from the public sector in 2004, lower than the 67.2-percent rate in 2003 and the 70.1-percent rate in 2002.

Osias strongly calls on various sectors to work together to meet the increasing need for modern family planning, including scientific natural family-planning method, especially in the lower socioeconomic class. He added that the phase out could make it harder for more couples to achieve their desired family size.

According to the Family Planning Survey, 49.3 percent of married women are using a family-planning method. Among these, 35.1 percent use a modern method.