Following the plea by the Commission on Population and Development (PopCom)for the declaration of a national emergency on teenage pregnancy, Senator Win Gatchalian seeks a Senate inquiry on how to strengthen the comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) approach and curb teenage pregnancies in the Philippines.
Gatchalian laments the fact that despite the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) Law in 2012, the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) reported that nine percent of the 4.9 million teenage women aged 15-19 have started childbearing.
PopCom also reported that between 2011 and 2017, pregnancies in the 10-14 age group increased by 50 percent from around 1,000 to 2,000 cases, 30 to 50 of which are among 10-year-olds.
“Despite the existence of CSE and the RH Law, teenage pregnancy rates in the country are still alarming.”
“Despite the existence of CSE and the RH Law, teenage pregnancy rates in the country are still alarming. This prompts us to revisit and strengthen our existing policies so we can save teenagers from getting pregnant and falling into the trap of intergenerational poverty,” said the veteran legislator who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture.
The senator also pointed out a finding by the PSA’s 2017 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey, which revealed that “marriage or family matters” is the top reason why female out-of-school children and youth (OSCY) aged 6-24 are not attending school.
“Napagkakaitan ang mga kabataan ng maayos na kalusugan at magandang kinabukasan kung hindi natin sila magagabayan sa usapin ng RH. Kung may mabisang programa at sapat na kakayahan ang mga paaralan para magturo ng CSE, maiiwasan natin ang pagdami ng mga batang tumitigil sa pag-aaral dahil sa maagang pagbubuntis.” he added.
The NDHS 2017 survey also pointed out that teenage mothers face greater difficulty in pursuing educational opportunities, which also lowers their chance of getting decent jobs.
The study added that adverse pregnancy outcomes are more likely to occur among teenage mothers, while their children are at greater risk of sickness and even death.
“Teenage pregnancy costs the Philippines P33 billion in annual income.”
Teenagers in rural areas are also more prone to early pregnancies. Data from the NDHS shows that 10 percent of rural girls aged 15-19 have started childbearing. This is three percentage points higher than their urban counterparts.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) also said that teenagers, especially the poor and marginalized, get pregnant because they lack access to school, information, and sexual and RH care. The UN agency added that teenage pregnancy costs the Philippines P33 billion in annual income.
Gatchalian has assured that he will file a resolution to conduct an inquiry with the aim of crafting relevant legislation to reverse the spike of teenage pregnancies nationwide.
“We need urgency in institutionalizing measures and ensuring their proper
implementation to address this situation. Protecting girls from teenage pregnancy empowers them to be independent and economically productive members of the society,” he said.