Misleading information that may be accessed through social media looms as a big stumbling block that authorities must address if they want to bring down teenage pregnancies, Senator Robin Padilla said.
Padilla, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, said youths spend as much as six hours a day on social media, much more than the time they spend in school.
“Ang mga bata nakapanood na ng mga porn diyan. Nakakalungkot po. Sila, gusto natin malaman nila ang tama. Ang problema, minsan meron pa tayong bloggers, hindi din natin ma-control, nagkukuwento pa ng kanilang mga sexual exploits sa Facebook,” the legislator said at the hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Family Relations and Gender Equality.
“Meron pa tayong dating sites para sa mga teenagers.”
“Meron pa tayong dating sites para sa mga teenagers,” the senator added.
Because of this, he said that so long as authorities cannot stem or limit such misleading information from social media, the programs and bills to fight teenage pregnancy may become virtually useless.
Padilla added this threatens to negate the information that the government wants to relay to the youths.
“The Philippines is the most social nation.”
“Wala po tayong sapat na kapangyarihan para labanan ang mga impormasyon na lumalabas sa social media,” he stressed.
Padilla noted the Philippines is the “most social nation” where 78% of young Filipinos have a mobile phone, and 59% have internet access while 53% have social networking accounts.
Thus, he said there must be a limit to access to social media, so the youths will not be misinformed and misled – so the budget and resources for government programs would not be wasted.
