Sex education to included in online learning modules – PopCom

Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III said sex education would be included in students’ online learning modules.

The PopCom chief made the statement after the agency announced the Philippine population is expected to reach 110.8 million by the end of 2021.

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Perez said the Department of Education (DepEd) started its coordination in October with its regional offices to included Comprehensive Sexuality Education in the online learning modalities.

Ilocos, Central Visayas, and the Davao Region are the areas prioritized for the sex education subject’s launch since they have the highest incidence of teenage pregnancy.

Perez also noted that the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) also projected up to 750,000 “quarantine babies” would be born this year.

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“However, since the GCQ (general community quarantine) is affecting only around one-third of the country, we believe about 250,000 might be added to our crude birth rate that would bring our population to 111.1 million,” Perez said.

Despite the projected increase in the population, Perez said the PopCom is expecting Filipino families “to grow smaller to only four to five members per family.”

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the population rate would decrease to 1.31 percent in 2021 from 1.68 percent in 2016, Perez said.

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“We have seen a significant decline. This is because Filipinos are choosing to have smaller families, to have fewer children and therefore fertility is slowly declining,” he explained.

Sex education to included in online learning modules – PopCom

In June, Senator Sherwin  warned that  rate in the Philippines could spike amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) reported in February that teenage pregnancy incidence among girls aged 10 to 14 is increasing. The agency recorded a 63% percent increase in the number of the said group age giving birth, comparing data from 2011 and 2018.

POPCOM earlier urged couples to practice family planning to avoid unplanned pregnancies during the lockdown.

Gatchalian said teenagers could also be part of a possible “population surge” after the COVID-19 crisis.

The senator cited that 23.5% of teenage girls in Eastern Visayas got pregnant after Typhoon Yolanda in 2013. Over 14% had another child the following year.