Save the Children Philippines (SCP) on Monday urged the Senate to pass the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Bill, addressing the escalating crisis of teenage pregnancies in the country, particularly among children aged 15 and below.

According to SCP, more than 500 adolescents in the Philippines become mothers every day and warned that these alarming numbers are not just statistics but “they represent the stolen childhoods of countless young girls.”

The group noted the country has witnessed a disturbing 35 percent increase in live births among the 15-and-under age group from 2021 to 2022.

"These figures tell a heartbreaking story of young lives derailed by circumstances beyond their control,” Wilma Banaga, Child Protection Advisor at Save the Children Philippines, said.

“Girls as young as 10 are being thrust into the role of mothers, while still children themselves," he added.

Banaga stressed pregnancies trap “thousands of young Filipino girls in a relentless cycle of poverty, discrimination, and lost opportunities.”