Vice President Sara Duterte said on Wednesday, March 8, that unwanted pregnancy should not be a hindrance for teenage girls to pursue their dreams of finishing their education as the country marked International Women’s Day.

Duterte, who is also the Education secretary, spoke of the need to address early teenage pregnancies and ensure learners are given a chance to continue their studies, during the IWD celebration held in Taguig City.

March 8 is the International Women’s Day. It was the Philippine Commission on Women and United Nations (UN) Women that organized the event.

The Vice President said the government, through the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), is providing ways for teenage mothers to continue and finish their education.

“Teenage mothers who have dropped out of formal school to take care of their children are provided with a second chance to finish basic education and pursue their dreams through the Alternative Learning System (ALS) or pursue technical skills training through our TESDA programs,” she said in her speech.

“We make sure that they can enroll in ALS, they can enroll in open university, and they can do ADMs — the alternative delivery modes which is the blended learning programs which is one of the learnings that we had from the Covid-19 pandemic,” Duterte added.

Recalling her recent visit to Pikit National High School in North Cotabato, she noted that only 63 percent of learners were found to be attending classes there due to peace and order problems in the community and teenage pregnancy.

In addition to government intervention, Duterte said she encouraged sexually active students to seek medical advice and get prenatal care once they become pregnant.

“These are 15, 16 years olds. And they are the age that are likely to get pregnant. I said, ‘Then what would you do?’”, Duterte recalled her conversation with the students.

“You should ask your principal on what can they do to help you because you wanted to continue with your studies,” the Education secretary said.

Meanwhile, Duterte also pushed for inclusive digital education for women, stressing that it will provide opportunities for women and girls to thrive in communities and overcome any inequality that affects "their development and involvement in the community.”

“Let us stand together in our common aspirations for inclusive development and remain at the forefront of social transformation for the benefit of women, children, youth, and other vulnerable groups,” she said.

The Vice President said the Marcos administration is committed to boosting social protection programs and implementation of laws to protect women, as mentioned in the Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028.

“It is my hope that by working hand in hand with this pursuit, we can provide more digital opportunities for socio-economic growth and gender empowerment and thereby enable women to rise above any form of online violence affecting their mental and physical well-being,” she said.

Records from Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) showed in 2020, there were 2,113 births from the age group 10 to 14.

A report in September 2020 by the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) revealed that about 40 to 50 Filipino children aged 10 to 14 years old give birth every week.