Teenage Pregnancies in the Philippines

Teenage pregnancy had always been a cause for alarm in the Philippines, despite it being a country that is almost 80% Catholic. But as of recent, the Philippines had slowly increased its number of teenage pregnancies, resulting in the Philippines being the top country with the most teenage pregnancies among the six major Southeast Asian countries. From 1999 to 2009, teenage pregnancies had increased by 70%. There were 114, 205 cases of teenage pregnancy in the year 1999 and in the year 2009, there were 195, 662. According to the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), the rate of teenage pregnancy in the country is at 3 out of 1,000 Filipino women that have ages between 15 to 19 years old. The Philippine Information Agency also added that teenage mothers gave over 11 percent of the 1.75 live births in the Philippines. A UNFPA 2011 annual report showed that there are 53 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 in the Philippines. The 1988 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) said that 3.6 million of our teenagers, or 5.2 percent of our population, got pregnant. 92 percent of these teens had unplanned pregnancies, and 78 percent did not even use contraceptives the first time they had sex. Many of our youth are clueless today on sexual intercourse, leading to unwanted and unplanned pregnancies.

One of the main reasons why the youth are so clueless about sexual intercourse and its consequences are the fact that the youth is misinformed about sexual intercourse. Filipino teens nowadays, thanks to technology, are more exposed to sex from movies, the Internet, magazines, TV and other forms of media, which were not present during earlier times. They are exposed to this type of information without the proper knowledge on how to handle the input. It also does not help that most teachers and parents in school both feel as if they are inadequate to discuss the topic of sexual intercourse to the youth. The problem now that arises is that the barkada has a more profound influence than the parents do. A study shows that female adolescents who have friends who engage in sexual intercourse are more likely to engage in it compared to those who do not associate with such peers. The view of the adolescent on sex is mostly conformed through his/her peers.

One of the possible solutions that we can use to address this issue is the passing of the RH Bill. RH Bill or also known by the names, Reproductive Health Bill 4244/The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2011. It is a pro-choice bill that aims to guarantee access to methods and information regarding birth control and maternal care. It aims to standardize reproductive health services across the country. Under RH Bill are programs such as, Mandatory Age-Appropriate Reproductive Health and Sexuality Education, Family planning, Emergency Obstetric Care, Maternal Death Review, Pro Bono Services for Indigent Women and many more. Under the