NSO: Four of 10 babies in Phl illegitimate

MANILA, Philippines - Four of 10 babies born in the country are illegitimate, data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed.

In a report by abs-cbnNews quoting the NSO, the data indicated that 711,079 or 40.7 percent of the total births recorded from January 2009 to March 2010 were illegitimate.

Of the number, more than half or 64.6 percent of babies born were recorded in Luzon, NSO said.

The data also indicated that an average of three babies are born in the country every minute.

The NSO data on births are based on certificates of live births transmitted by city, municipal and civil registrars from January 2009 to March 2010.

However, the statistics office noted that population growth or the number of registered live births decreased by 2.2 percent, from 1,784,316 in 2008 to 1,745,585 in 2009.

It said the Philippines now averages 4,782 births daily or 199 births per hour.

The NSO also reported that 195,662 or 11.2 percent of live births were born to teen mothers.

Meanwhile, doctors, academicians and family planning (FP) advocates have formed a group in a bid to “professionalize and standardize” FP facilities and services despite the absence of a Reproductive Health (RH) law.

The group, called Philippine Family Planning Society (PFPS), was launched yesterday with a goal to produce a “study pool of FP providers from among midwives, nurses and doctors who will make quality FP services available to Filipinos needing help in planning their families.”