Pills and female sterilization are the leading family planning methods of married Filipino women 15 to 49 years of age, based on the results of the 2002 Family Planning Survey (FPS). Fifteen percent were using pills and 11 percent were using female sterilization.

Between 2001 and 2002, the percentage of married women using pills increased from 14.1 percent to 15.3 percent. On the other hand, the percentage using female sterilization leveled at 11.0 percent in the last two years.

Bicol Region, where traditional methods were more commonly used than modern methods in previous years, recorded the highest increase in the percentage of married women using pills next to Central Mindanao. Cagayan Valley registered the highest rate of use of pills with 26.0 percent of women in the region using pills.

The same percentage (about 15.0 percent) of poor and nonpoor married women were using pills. However, the percentage of nonpoor women (13.3 percent) using female sterilization was twice that of poor women (5.8 percent).

The 2002 FPS is the seventh in a series of family planning surveys conducted nationwide by the NSO. A total of 29,760 women aged 15-49 years old were interviewed for the 2002 FPS.