'Boost measures vs teen pregnancy'

SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian stressed the need to strengthen measures to sustain the decline in the number of teenage pregnancies.

Although cases of teen pregnancy dropped in 2020, Gatchalian said the government should see to it that effective measures are in place to ensure that the trend will not be reversed.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Commission on Population and Development (PopCom) Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez 3rd said that there were 56,428 live births among 10- to 17-year-old mothers in 2020, 6,082 or 10 percent lower than the 62,510 recorded in 2019.

The drop was attributed to pandemic restrictions and the lack of face-to-face classes. The population agency, however, warned that numbers might rise anew once pandemic concerns recede.

Gatchalian said the government should strengthen the implementation of mitigation measures to prevent a resurgence of teenage pregnancies.

For one, the lawmaker cited the need to address gaps in sexuality education in schools. While the Department of Education issued Order 31 s. 2018 to guide the delivery of comprehensive sexuality education, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies pointed out gaps in its implementation.

A March 2021 discussion paper by the state think tank revealed challenges such as the lack of qualified manpower and sufficient facilities, training, and instructional materials, coordination and monitoring system. The study also pointed to the inadequacy and inaccessibility of training on sexuality education curriculum integration.

Gatchalian also pointed out that a higher age for determining statutory rape can also curb pregnancies among very young adults. Out of the 56,428 births from teenage parents, 51 were from girls ages 10 to 12 — cases which could have resulted from statutory rape according to PopCom. Almost 60 percent of fathers of children born to teenage mothers are ages 20 years old and above.

Last year, both houses of Congress ratified the measure raising the age for determining statutory rape from 12 to 16.

"Upang patuloy nating mapababa ang bilang ng mga batang ina sa mga susunod na taon, dapat nating tiyakin na may sapat tayong mga programa na magbibigay proteksyon sa ating mga kabataan. Dapat nating bigyan ito ng prayoridad dahil madalas napagkakaitan ng magandang kinabukasan ang mga batang ina (To maintain the drop in the number of teenage mothers in the coming years, we must ensure that there are enough programs that will provide protection to our youth. We have to prioritize this because teenage mothers are usually deprived of a better future)," said Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture.