By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
Youth, reproductive health, and women’s rights youth advocates launched a campaign to call for the passage of a law that addresses adolescent pregnancies in the Philippines.
(Credits: unfpa.org| Manila Bulletin file photo)
The Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) gathered reproductive health, women’s rights, and youth advocates to launch the “No More Children Having Children” campaign, a ramped-up crusade for the passage of a law that addresses adolescent pregnancies in the country.
For Renko Gaudiel, the program associate of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions (UN SDSN) Youth, the “prevailing circumstances are alarming” and “even the United Nations noted that among six major economies in the ASEAN region, the Philippines has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies and is the only country where the rate is still increasing.”
The goal of the campaign is to push for complete legislative action on adolescent pregnancies in the Philippines by calling on legislators to support the passage of a law addressing teenage pregnancies, and press Congress to exercise its oversight powers to review the implementation of the Reproductive Health Law and other relevant legislation related to teenage pregnancy, particularly the implementation of the provision for the mandatory comprehensive sexuality education.
During the “No More Children Having Children” campaign launch, advocates from both government and civil society organizations highlighted the urgency of the situation concerning adolescent pregnancy in the Philippines.
Citing 2014 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 24 babies are delivered by teenage mothers every hour. Meanwhile, the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) revealed that 1 in 10 women aged 15 to 19 years have begun childbearing.
The NDHS also revealed that early childbearing is more common among young adult women with less education and are living in rural areas. Early childbearing is also more common in Davao Region (17.9%) and Northern Mindanao (14.7%).
Aside from the “alarming prevalence of teenage pregnancy” in the country, advocates also noted that adolescent pregnancy has serious consequences for young women, their children, and communities as a whole.
Several studies have already proven that too-early childbearing has several negative impacts for young women and their offspring.
Teenage mothers are more likely to have premature and underweight babies. They are also more likely to experience poverty, lower educational attainment, and a host of other health and development issues.
“While Congress and the Philippine government have made significant strides for health in recent months and years, with the passage of the landmark legislation including the RH Law, the HIV and AIDS Policy Act of 2018, the First 1,000 Days Act of 2018, and the Universal Health Care Act of 2019, there is a clear need for the passage of a law that lays down the national policy on preventing adolescent pregnancies and institutionalizes social protection for teenage parents,” said PLCPD executive director Rom Dongeto.
Dongeto added that the bill addressing adolescent pregnancies was approved on Third Reading in the Senate while the counterpart proposal in the House of Representatives did not even reach the House plenary for sponsorship in the 17th Congress. “At present, similar proposals have been filed in the 18th Congress, and we cannot emphasize enough how these bills should gain more traction,” he added.
Undersecretary Juan Antonio Perez, the executive director of the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) also revealed that the prospects for the enactment of the bill are increased with the support of the President and the Cabinet Cluster on Poverty Reduction and Human Development. “An executive order declaring the rising number of adolescent pregnancies as a national emergency is being prepared for the President to sign,” he said. “This order will provide evidence of compelling state interest for allowing minors’ access to services,” he added.
The versions of the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Bill are already pending in both chambers of Congress, with House Bill 2297 filed by Reps. Sol Aragones and Edcel Lagman now in the Lower House, and Senate Bill 161 filed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros now in the Upper Chamber.
Both bills seek for the development of a national program of action and investment plan for the prevention of teenage pregnancy, the organization and mobilization of regional and local information service delivery network for adolescent health and development, the development and promotion of age and development-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education, the establishment of functional local teen centers for adolescent health and development, and social protection for teenage mothers or parents.
The SB 161 also wants to create a "Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Council," an inter-agency body composed of key departments including the Department of Health, Commission on Population and Development, and other agencies. This council will be tasked to implement the proposed law.
“To enact the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Bill is to secure the future of our children and young people. If we implement a national policy to address this pressing issue, Filipino youth and children will be assured that they have better support and will be able to receive proper help and education when it comes to childbearing,” said Jona Turalde, youth champion of SheDecides Philippines.
Aside from PLCPD, POPCOM, SheDecides, and UN SDSN Youth, the other organizations who have signified their commitment to the campaign include Oxfam sa Pilipinas, Catholics for Reproductive Health, Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines, Family Planning Organization of the Philippines, Partido Manggagawa, Philippine Center for Population and Development, and WomanHealth Philippines.