Rising teenage pregnancy cases in Phl spark concerns

The Commission on Populations (CPD) on Wednesday raised the alarm on the rising teenage pregnancy in the country.

Citing the Philippine Statistics Authority, Acting CPD Knowledge Management and Communications Division chief Myline Mirasol Quiray lamented the high number of teenage pregnancies in the Philippines, with live teenage births reaching around 150,000 in 2022.

"So, makikita natin na akala natin sa pandemic bumaba na yung teenage pregnancy cases, of course alam nating hindi nakakalabas yung mga bata ano, and then nagulat tayo na after pandemic tumaas siya in 2022 (We thought that teenage pregnancy cases had decreased during the pandemic, of course we know that children were not able to get out, and then we were surprised that after the pandemic, it increased in 2022)," Quiray said.

"Nakakalungkot po itong balita na ito kasi ayaw nating mangyari --- pabata nang pabata yung mga teenage pregnancy natin (This news is sad because we don't want it to happen --- our teenage pregnancies are getting younger and younger)," she added.

Compared to neighboring countries, Quiray noted, teenage pregnancy in the Philippines is high.

Quiray said the Philippines is a "gold medalist" in teenage pregnancies among its regional neighbors.

"Isa sa mga pinakamataas na teen pregnancy cases ay sa Pilipinas (We have one of the highest teenage pregnancy cases)," she noted.

"Nakakalungkot man isipin pero ganyan ang reality na nangyayari ngayon lalo na sa very young adolescence na age 10 to 14 (It's sad to think about, but that's the reality that's happening right now, especially in the very young adolescence aged 10 to 14)," she added.

Quiray thus called for the passage of the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Act, which allows adolescents aged 15 to 17 to access reproductive health services, including birth control with no need for parental consent.