Herbosa welcomes teen pregnancy bill but opposes inclusion of gender issues


 

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DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa (JEL SANTOS/ MB PHOTO)

 

Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Ted Herbosa has welcomed the substitute bill for Senate Bill 1979, also known as the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Bill, filed by Senator Risa Hontiveros, but stressed that gender issues should not be included in the measure.

 

“That’s a teenage pregnancy. So that’s a very debatable issue. Mainit yung debate ngayon. Ako, childhood pregnancy is my big problem. It is a big problem of this country (The debate is heated right now. For me, childhood pregnancy is my big problem. It is a big problem in this country),” Herbosa told reporters in an ambush interview on Thursday, Jan. 30.

 

“Any law you want to use to help me, I welcome that law. Pero huwag lang singitan ng issues on gender. Ayusin lang ang sex education curriculum na gagawin (Any law you want to use to help me, I welcome that law. But don’t insert gender issues. Just fix the sex education curriculum that will be implemented),” he added.

 

Herbosa stressed that even without the proposed measure, there are already existing laws that protect women, particularly the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Act of 2012 or Republic Act No. 10354.

 

He said that proper implementation of this law is key to addressing reproductive health concerns in the country.

 

“With or without that law, we already have the Reproductive Health Law which protects women. All we need is to implement it properly,” the health chief said.

 

The DOH chief also pointed out the lack of specialized educators handling health education in schools, urging the Department of Education (DepEd) to address the issue.

 

“Sex education, ang tanong ko sa inyo, mayroon bang educator ang DepEd? They have a science teacher, math teacher, physical education teacher. May health teacher ba? Wala, eh (Sex education—my question to you is, does DepEd have an educator for that? They have a science teacher, math teacher, and physical education teacher. But do they have a health teacher? No, they don’t),” he said.

 

According to Herbosa, the health department is willing to work closely with DepEd in crafting a more comprehensive and effective health education curriculum, particularly on sex education.

 

“So ang sabi namin sa DepEd, kayo ang expert sa pagtuturo pero kami ang sa content. We will give you content and we will cooperate with you para magkaroon ng mas magandang content on health education including sex education (So we told DepEd, you are the experts in teaching, but we are the experts in content. We will provide the content and cooperate with you to develop better material on health education, including sex education),” he stated.

 

Teenage pregnancy

 

Teenage pregnancy remains a pressing concern in the country.

 

Based one the data of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the percentage of teenage pregnancies among Filipino women aged 15 to 19 has dropped from 8.6 percent in 2017 to 5.4 percent in 2022.

 

But there was a concerning 35 percebt increase in live births among girls aged 15 and under, rising from 2,320 in 2021 to 3,135 in 2022.

 

Hontiveros’ proposed measure seeks to institutionalize stronger interventions to prevent adolescent pregnancies, improve access to reproductive health services, and address social factors that contribute to early pregnancies.

 

However, some lawmakers and groups have raised concerns over provisions related to gender issues.