Filipino children must stop bearing children of their own.
This was the simple yet poignant message of Laguna 2nd district Rep. Ruth Mariano-Hernandez in her recent privilege speech at the House of Representatives on the occasion of National Children's Month this November.
"Adolescent pregnancy remains among the most serious concerns with majority of Filipinos referring to it as the most important problem for Filipino women today, as revealed in a 2020 survey of the Social Weather Stations," Hernandez said.
She said a 2019 Save the Children Childhood Report cites that adolescent pregnancy affects 5.99 percent of Filipino girls, "which is the second highest rate in Southeast Asia and still increasing".
Moreover, Hernandez said that as per a 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), 5 percent of Filipino women aged 15 to 19 have begun child-bearing.
"While this is an improvement from 9 percent in 2017, it is important to take note that according to civil registry data, pregnancy among girls 10 to 14 years old is increasing. The number of births among very young adolescents or girls aged 10-14 is likewise troubling.
"In 2019, there were 2,411 births among very young adolescents; this figure doubled in just over a decade, from 1,116 births in 2008. These children are not even officially considered women of reproductive age," she noted.
Citing these figures, Hernandez said: "I emphasize that early and unintended pregnancy has lifelong, serious consequences and adds to inter-generational costs that reduce not only the girl or a woman's quality of life but even their child and the family's quality of life."
"When a girl gets pregnant," she continued, "her life changes drastically. Early pregnancy has serious repercussions that affect a girl’s emotional, physical, and mental health, her education, development, chances for a bright future, and even her social and economic participation."
Thus, the lady lawmaker made her call for "no more children having children".
"As legislators, one of the concrete efforts we must take in this 19th Congress is to act on the adolescent pregnancy prevention bills with high urgency. We need a law focused on addressing adolescent pregnancies that will devote programs and resources and deliver social protection for adolescent parents," she told her House colleagues.
Hernandez said that doing so "would create an enabling environment where girls and young women would thrive, live a dignified life, and fully attain their rights".
She pointed to Executive Order (EO) 141, which noted that the state acknowledges that what causes teen pregnancy are “engendered patterns of discrimination, deep-seated norms and attitudes that normalize and justify violence against women and children, the lack of information and education, and the vulnerability and exclusion of women and children living in remote and rural area".
"We must intensify our institutions toward eliminating sexual violence, abuse, and gender-based discrimination. Our youth social development program should also provide knowledge to avoid high-risk behaviors such as early sexual activity," she said.
"The time is more than ripe for the Congress to propel a future of no more children having children," Hernandez added.