MANILA – In a bid to reduce the increasing number of adolescent birth rates across the country, a measure seeking to address teenage pregnancy was filed before the Senate.
Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros recently filed Senate Bill No. 161 or the “Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of 2018” since socio-economic strategists considered it as a “national social emergency.”
Hontiveros said the government should give a comprehensive, age-appropriate sexuality education covering sex, gender, and reproductive health issues in order to better inform young Filipinos and parents.
The program will cover public and private schools, universities and out-of-school youths. It requires the government to give more social protection programs for teenage mothers, including accessible maternal health services, workshops, and livelihood programs.
The proposal wanted a mandatory provision of medical, legal and other services for teenage mothers who were victims of sexual abuse or violence.
“Para maiwasan ang pagdami ng mga batang ina, pang-unawa, edukasyon at tulong medikal ang kailangan, hindi ang pananakot o pangungutya,” Hontiveros said.
Socioeconomic Planning secretary Ernesto Pernia and the National Economic and Development Authority recently reported the skyrocketing number of teenage pregnancies over the past decade.
Pernia added 15 to 18 percent of teenage girls have already given births in Davao, Northern Mindanao and Socckscsargen in the southern Philippines alone.
“The solution should be a legislation that will deal with its main causes: lack of proper information of our youth and lack of access to relevant reproductive health services,” said Hontiveros./PN
