Hontiveros to DOH: Reconsider position on sex education

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros has fired back at Health Secretary Ted Herbosa for claiming that there is no need for a new law to address the country’s rising incidence of teenage pregnancy.

“I remind the Department of Health (DOH) secretary that the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy (PAP) bill strengthens the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) law,” she said.

“Teen pregnancy is still a national emergency, it is only right that we strengthen the RPRH law. It is only right that we pass a measure that mandates the government to direct our attention and resources to this particular issue of teen pregnancy,” Hontiveros added.

Herbosa previously said that sex education is already included in the RPRH law, and that it is sufficient.

“Whether we like it or not, according to the data there are young people who are sexually active and are currently facing the consequences. They need appropriate information and services, in addition to what is provided in the RPRH. Protecting their health should not be denied to them,” Hontiveros responded.

“This is also why the HIV law we passed specifies that adolescents can access HIV testing and treatment even without the consent of parents. The Raising the Age of Sexual Consent law also recognizes that adolescents have agency to give consent at 16 so we must also recognize their abilities to make decisions on their health,” the senator noted.

Statutory rape

Meanwhile, a concerned group yesterday expressed alarm as over 11,000 rape incidents involving girls under 16 years old were reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2023, yet not a single case has been filed.

Citing the government’s 2023 Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health law annual report, The Forum for Family Planning and Development said that from January 2023 up to the present, every adolescent pregnancy of girls 16 years and under has behind it at least one incident of rape.

In 2023 alone, 11,479 incidents of rape involving girls 16 years or under were recorded, yet no case under Republic Act 11648 was filed in court, the group claimed.

RA 11548 provides stronger protection against rape and sexual exploitation and abuse, increasing the age for determining the commission of statutory rape from 12 to 16.

Further, the group noted that the PSA also reported that 99.3 percent of the nine to 14 age group who got pregnant indicated the father as 15 years or older, or not reported at all.

“This information is lodged with the civil registrars of all local governments in the country, yet it was not flagged as a potential criminal incident that should have been investigated by police and prosecuted if indeed covered by the law,” Juan Antonio Perez III, The Forum vice-president and former Philippine Commission for Population and Development executive director, said in a statement.

According to him, the 2023 data indicated an almost eight percent rise in under-16 adolescent pregnancies compared to 2022, which he said was “not unexpected because government agencies had been warning about this for years.”

“The law calls on public and private schools to set up systems to detect and prevent these incidents, as well as the Department of Education to include in the basic education curriculum and teach age-appropriate subjects concerning the rights and protection of the children. Yet where is the action?” Perez lamented.

The Forum pointed out that the uninvestigated incidents of statutory rape are five times greater than the 2,634 cases of rape filed in 2023 under RA 8353 (Anti-Rape Law of 1997). — Rhodina Villanueva