“The order acknowledges that a patriarchal and sexist Filipino culture is the biggest root cause of teen pregnancy.”
Much has been said about how big a problem teen pregnancy is in the Philippines. The issue has been comprehensively and exhaustively discussed in many forums by government agencies and non-government organizations through the years.
In fact, there are more than ten (10) bills languishing in both the House of Representatives (HOR) and Senate waiting for approval. Each day that the country fails to address this problem, 576 babies are born to teen mothers, according to the National Demographic and Health Survey in 2017. That’s 17,280 a month, and 207,360 a year. Most of the adolescent mothers are from poor families and with less education. And based on the stories that we know, their lives have become much more difficult with motherhood. Many of them have suffered, and continue to suffer from various kinds of abuses and acts of violence.
Since Congress is too slow to act on this issue, the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) has been working on an Executive Order (EO) that will address adolescent pregnancy even as Congress continues to deliberate on the bills.
POPCOM’s efforts have succeeded as EO No. 141 entitled, “Adopting as a National Priority the Implementation of Measures to Address the Root Causes of the Rising Number of Teenage Pregnancies, and Mobilizing Government Agencies for the Purpose” has been promulgated by the Office of the President last June 25, 2021.
This EO makes teen pregnancy as a “national priority” and adopts a whole-of-government approach in addressing the problem. From now on, we should be seeing intensified efforts by various government offices to make real the battlecry of NGOs: “No more children having children.”
The “whereas” clause that caught my interest is the one saying, “WHEREAS, the State acknowledges that at the root of the rising number of adolescent pregnancies are engendered patterns of discrimination, deep-seated norms and attitudes that normalize and justify violence against women and children, lack of information and education, and the vulnerability and exclusion of women and children living in remote and rural areas, and recognizes that it is imperative to carefully coordinate, rationalize, monitor, and assess the efforts of concerned government agencies and instrumentalities to ensure a whole-of-government approach in implementing measures to curb the rising number of teenage pregnancies…”
In short, EO 141 acknowledges that a patriarchal and sexist Filipino culture is the biggest root cause of teen pregnancy. This is a big statement and will require initiatives that can change the existing mindset of many that regards women and girls as less persons than men and boys, and that women should be subservient to men. As a feminist, this excites me. Hopefully, government agencies will take this EO seriously.
EO 141 gives crucial and major responsibilities to Sangguniang Kabataan Councils including: educating the youth on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) even in non-formal education setting; providing youth-friendly and rights-based measures to support pregnant girls and young mothers, which may include vocational training opportunities; following up on pregnant girls or young mothers who have dropped out of school, through targeted outreach and support programs; and ensuring the functionality of Barangay Anti-VAWC desks.
These are serious mandates and it will be interesting to know if the SKs will rise up to the challenge. I say this since SKs are not really known to have a good track record in tackling serious and complex problems. Most probably, SKs also need to understand ASRH especially since they are supposed to provide “rights-based measures” to support girls and young mothers. Considering how controversial ASRH is as it involves topics on sex, sexuality, relationships, and sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE) besides teen pregnancy, it will not be surprising if the SKs themselves also need education on these issues. Hopefully, POPCOM will strongly move on this.
EO 141 mandates POPCOM to continue educating leaders, parents, and other community members about evidence-based strategies to address adolescent pregnancy. Moreover, POPCOM is tasked to consolidate all efforts by the different government agencies on the problem into a Comprehensive Action Plan Towards the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancies. Monitoring of the implementation of the plan falls in the hands of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction (HPDR) Cabinet Cluster that will consequently report to the Office of the President (OP) annually.
Over-all, promulgating EO141 is a welcome development. However, the document does not mention whether or not adolescents will be provided access to contraception or family planning services. This is the elephant in the room. We can educate young people all we want but if the sexually active youth have no access to RH services, addressing adolescent pregnancy will continue to be tough. My hope is despite the silence, this will be done.
Under EO 141, the Department of Health (DOH) does not have any mandate. Considering that the RH law has given the DOH the lead role in its implementation and the provision of a modern family program, this can be regarded as a gap in the EO. The same is true with the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) that is not even mentioned by the EO. While it is understood that the EO adopts a whole-of-government approach in the prevention of teen pregnancy, the DOH and PCW are important offices in addressing this problem.
Definitely, EO 141 is important. It will be worthwhile to closely follow its implementation. Indeed, children should not be having children. Girls should be girls first before they should be mothers if and when they decide to.
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