PopCom enhances programs for teen parents

MANILA, Philippines — Even with the decline in teenage pregnancy, the Commission on Population and Development (PopCom) is intensifying programs for young parents.

“Despite the effects of the pandemic’s quarantines and lockdowns, we and our partners continue to devote energies in protecting the welfare of our youth,” PopCom executive director Juan Antonio Perez III said in a statement. “There are concerted efforts to ensure our young people are being looked after and well taken care of as a vulnerable unit of society – one which was severely impacted by the health crisis.”

PopCom previously reported that the number of adolescent pregnancies has further decreased in 2020.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, it noted a 10 percent drop in the number of registered live births among adolescent mothers, aged 10 to 17 years, significantly from 2019’s 62,510 to 2020’s 56,428.

All regions exhibited a decline with the National Capital Region having the most pronounced decrease at 1,004, followed by the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) at 842, and Zamboanga peninsula at 646.

Perez attributed the downtrend of adolescent pregnancies to a confluence of many factors, including the pandemic as well as PopCom’s unrelenting collaboration with government agencies and local government units in upholding the welfare of Filipino youth, especially those who started to have families at a young age.

He noted there were only 51 births among girls aged 10 to 12 years in 2020, or an average of one birth per week – a rate that could be classified as a result of statutory rape.

Perez said the focus on young Filipinos during the health emergency was reflective of the agency’s accent on adolescent health and development.

Girls who just became mothers at an early age have been accorded ample assistance, including their kids, through PopCom’s linkage with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the “special protection program for adolescent mothers and their children.”

“We recognize the crucial role of our approximately 20 million young Filipinos in nation building, that’s why we are pushing and striving for an enabling environment for their welfare,” Perez said.