About 12,000 pads were distributed to female students of Rizal High School (RHS) in Pasig, the second largest school in the Philippines, in a bid to foster conversation on menstruation and sexual education.

Led by Palawan-based reproductive health organization Roots of Health and in partnership with women's hygiene brand Charmee, 500 female students of the RHS attended the handover on Thursday as part of the PAD-Ibig Diaries initiative.

Each pad consists of illustrations and information on contraception, puberty, consent, and relationships written in a diary format.

In an interview with DAILY TRIBUNE, Amina Evangelista Swanepoel, executive director of Roots of Health, said they first held a PAD-Ibig Diaries event in Palawan National High School Puerto Princesa, Palawan in February last year. They have sought to continue the program due to the positive reception it received.

Swanepoel said the idea was conceptualized by Manila-based agency Black Pencil Manila.

"They were thinking about young people and where girls want to get information about sexual health so they thought what if it's wrapped in their menstrual pad because it's something that all girls use and they can look at it and read it in private," Swanepoel explained in Filipino.

"So although menstrual pads focus on the pads and periods, the information that we include in the pads do not just cover menstruation, it also covers other aspects of sexual health," she added.

Swanepoel noted that girls could also collect the pads or exchange them with other girls so all of them could read them.

"It's like a pamphlet. But in a story form so they could learn something and they can also have it for reference and they can look at it later. Also, they are thought-provoking and interesting and they are all about growing up, puberty, and the things girls think about," she added.

The Roots of Health also handed over a PAD-Ibig drawer, a pad dispenser, to the school's clinic.

"So if the girls forget to bring a pad, they can easily ask for some from their school nurse and then there's a bonus information about sexual and reproductive health," Swanepoel pointed out.

For Miko Acuña's, marketing director of JS Unit Trade of Charmee, the partnership and the event help more girls to understand the messages that Roots of Health and Charmee "want to impart to them."

"We felt that it was a good partnership through PAD-Ibig Diaries to be able to have this good type of sexual education and this type of approach also," Acuña added.

Swanepoel also stressed the importance of events like these, where girls could ask questions without pressure.

"I think the more opportunities kids have that they can talk about these things openly and honestly, then the more information they have, the more empowered they are," she continued.

"And for us, we always go back to our goal, to reduce teen pregnancy and to reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The more we talk about it in school, with teachers, with parents at home, with our friends, get credible information online, the more opportunities there are, the better it is for the kids," she added.

The Philippines records around 400 teen births daily, while HIV infections surged by 411 percent from 2012 to 2023, making the country the fastest-growing HIV hotspot in the Asia Pacific region.

A third of these infections were among young people aged 15 to 21, with nearly all cases resulting from sexual contact.