SOCIOECONOMIC Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia on Thursday cited a study from the University of the Philippines Population Institute saying one in 10 Filipinas get pregnant in their teens.
He said 10 percent of 10 million Filipinas aged between 15 and 19 were getting pregnant.
“One million [teenagers] get pregnant during those years. It’s not going to help poverty reduction,” Pernia said.
He said once teenage girls got pregnant, many of them would fail to join the workforce because they had to take care of their children.
“[The young] Mothers are left rearing their children instead of working and contributing to the family income,” Pernia said.
If poor mothers were freed from excessive child-bearing and rearing, Pernia said, they could participate in skills programs so they could join the labor market or get into some entrepreneurship.
He said unwanted pregnancies had been prevalent over the years among the poor families.
To address this concern, he said, the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte will implement a law granting the poor free contraceptives and birth control education “speedily and fully.”
He said population control is one of the priorities of the new administration.
Sex education in schools, as provided by the Reproductive Health Law, will help curb teen pregnancies.
“We need to implement speedily and fully the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law so couples, especially the poor families, will have an informed choice,” Pernia said.
“It’s plain lack of familiarity or knowledge about sexuality, and that is why one important provision in the RH law is sexual education.
“We will not listen to any sermonizing about family planning being abortifacient… That’s all nonsense.”
Pernia said one-third of all pregnancies in the country were “unintended, unwanted and unplanned” and were affecting mostly poor couples.
