WHEN the Pope visits the Philippines next year he may be caught in the middle of a storm over birth control that is splitting the country, following an increasingly emotional confrontation over the issue between the Protestant President of the Philippines, Fidel Ramos, represented by Health Secretary Juan Flavier, and Roman Catholic Archbishop Jaime Sin.
The slugfest is dredging up scenes reminiscent of 1986 when the church turned political and mustered the Roman Catholic support that gave Cory Aquino's People Power the edge to end the 20-year-rule of Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
Next Sunday there will be what the church hopes is a massive rally at the Quirino Bandstand at the Luneta Park in protest against a Philippine government decision to send a 15-man delegation, headed by Mr Flavier, to the International Conference on Population and Development next month in Cairo.
The conference has become controversial because a Draft Final Document, formulated at a recent preparatory conference in New York and co-ratified by the Philippines, states that women should have access to safe abortion, reliable information and compassionate counselling and services.
Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila, has called for the Philippines to boycott the Cairo conference because it focuses on the freedom of choice in sexual matters and acceptance of the means and devices required to make the choice effective.
The government, ruled by a constitution that prohibits abortion calls its own pro-choice stand on birth control the ''cafeteria approach''.
