Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
The national government will be crafting programs and policies that are aimed at addressing teen pregnancies in the country amid the recorded increase in the number of women giving birth at a very young age.
Based on the data of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD), hospital births among young women aged 10 to 14 increased in 2021 to about 2,300, from a little over 2,000 at the onset of the pandemic.
CPD Deputy Executive Director Lolito R. Tacardon said that while the figure is low compared to the Philippine population, he emphasized that this must be addressed in the soonest possible time due to the health and various life-long consequences.
“A multi-agency approach is warranted in solving the dilemma of the country’s young women conceiving very early in life. The implication of adolescent pregnancies does not only cover the health of young Filipino girls; it also compromises young parents’ capacity to complete their education and achieve their aspirations, thereby diminishing their chances of being a productive member of their family or household, and the larger society as well,” said Tacardon.
This, he said, is the reality and more evident among the poor.
‘One teenage pregnancy is one too many in view of its life-long and irreversible consequences,” Tacardon added.
The reasons
Tacardon hinted at misinformation from the Internet and social media that tend to lead vulnerable teens into risky behaviors.
“Another is the possibility of sexual abuse by older men, as revealed in the Civil Registry and Vital Statistics, which indicated that the livebirths among 10- to 14-year old mothers were sired by partners who are older than them” he said.
Gov’t intervention
Undersecretary for Population and Development Lisa Grace Bersales said the establishment of the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Inter-Agency Council (APPIAC) will be tasked to address the common and persistent population challenge of adolescent pregnancies.
The APPIAC was created through the passage of the House Bill (HB) 8910. It is composed of various agencies acting as the national government’s coordinating body with the CPD taking the lead.
The CPD will spearhead the creation and conduct of programs and policies that will seek to find definitive solutions to the multi-dimensional nature of teen childbearing, deemed by the government as a national social emergency,” said Bersales.
She said the CPD will collaborate closely with the Department of Health (DOH) for the young parents’ overall wellbeing, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for their social protection, the Department of Education (DepEd) for the Comprehensive Sexual Education’s nationwide implementation as part of their academic curriculum, plus the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to ensure local government units’ involvement in the strategic programs.
Bersales said the APPIAC is expected to devise policies and programs centered not only on the prevention of the issue but also the provision of social protection measures including counseling, maternal health care and post-delivery care of Filipino girls who have already begun childbearing. — Aaron Recuenco
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