Cases of adolescent pregnancy among girls below 15 are increasingly tied to statutory rape, the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) told lawmakers during the first hearing on the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (APP) Bill in the 20th Congress.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that more than 3,600 live births in 2024 were linked to older men.
The majority of cases involved fathers who were 6 to 10 years older than the mother (912 cases), followed by those 3 to 5 years older (693 cases) and 11 to 20 years older (333 cases).
“Most pregnancies among girls under 15 are likely the result of statutory rape,” the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) said in a statement.
Concealed abuses suspected
PLCPD also flagged over a thousand cases where the father’s age was not declared, raising concerns about unreported or concealed sexual violence.
The PLCPD and the Child Rights Network Philippines said the data underscores the urgent need to prevent sexual abuse before it happens.
The groups noted that while laws such as Republic Act 11648, which raised the age determining statutory rape from below 12 to below 16, and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, have been enacted, cases of abuse-linked pregnancies persist.
The APP bill, which lawmakers began deliberating on this week, seeks to strengthen child protection systems and provide comprehensive adolescent sexuality education, including lessons on consent and protection against gender-based violence.