BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO City – More teenagers are getting pregnant in Iloilo province.
From 8.7 percent in 2012, the teenage pregnancy prevalence rate rose to 9.7 in 2013, according to the Provincial Population Office (PPO).
“This means that for every 100 babies, nine to 10 were delivered by teenagers,” said Ramon Yee, PPO chief.
The age of the teenage mothers is between 14 to 19 years old, PPO records showed.
The statistics is alarming, Yee said.
There are around 400,000 teenagers – below 19 years old but not younger than 13 years old – in the province.
“Last year, we recorded four to five 14-year-old pregnant teenagers,” Yee said.
The social media, peer pressure and poverty are among the factors for the rise in teen pregnancies, said Yee.
“I believe the prevalence rate will drop once the teenagers’ attention is rechanneled to helpful things,” he said.
Teen centers that the provincial government has been establishing across Iloilo since 2011 can be effective venues to curb unplanned pregnancies, said Yee.
According to Yee, the teen centers are manned by trained “peer helpers”. Among others, they educate the youth about the ill-effects of early pregnancy.
As of now, there are 15 centers, all based in public high schools.
This May, the provincial government released P4.2 million for the establishment of 14 more teen centers, Yee said.
The PPO has other interventions such as the “Adolescent Health and Youth Development” program.
Aside from addressing teenage pregnancy, it also addresses other social issues among the youth like risky sexual behavior, illegal drugs, alcoholism, and smoking.
According to Josefina Natividad, director of the University of the Philippines Population Institute, young Filipinos have limited access to sex education and adolescent sexual and reproductive health services, especially if they are underage and unmarried.
The 2014 data from the Philippine Statistical Authority showed that every hour, 24 babies are delivered by teenage mothers.
On the other hand, the 2014 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality study found out that around 14 percent of Filipino girls aged 15 to 19 are either pregnant for the first time or are already mothers — more than twice the rate recorded in 2002./PN
