ILOILO CITY, March 16 -- The 2.2 percent fertility rate in Western Visayas is an indication that women have a voice in the number of children they want and they have access to family planning services.

In the 1970s, the average was six children and women could not achieve their desired number due to unmet needs, according to Harold Alfred Marshall, Commission on Population and Development (CPD) Western Visayas Director.

"The ideal fertility rate for a woman to replace herself in the population is 2.1 percent. We are nearing the replacement level, but that is very healthy. That is why we should maintain and sustain that level," Marshall said in an interview during Friday's awarding ceremony here for outstanding local population offices i...