Teenage pregnancies may spike in calamity-hit areas – Gatchalian

The government should be mindful of the possible increase in teenage pregnancies in calamity-hit areas, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Thursday.

“Ang epekto ng pandemya ay isa nang posibleng sanhi ng pagdami ng mga batang ina sa bansa. At dahil sa mga nagdaang bagyo, ang mga batang babae sa mga nasalantang lugar ay mas nanganganib na mabiktima ng karahasan, pang-aabuso, at maging mga batang ina,” Gatchalian, chairperson of Senate committee on basic education, said.

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He added girls aged 10 to 19 are most vulnerable to getting molested or pregnant while in evacuation centers.

The senator cited what happened after Typhoon Yolanda hit Eastern Visayas in 2013, wherein in 23.5% of the region’s total population of teenage girls got pregnant. It was based on a 2017 study from the Department of Science and Technology-National Research Council of the Philippines.

The study also showed that 14.8% of these teenage moms had another child the following year.

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To prevent a spike in teenage pregnancies, the local government units should protect them and work on the resumption of classes to “restore normalcy” for affected children, Gatchalian said.

The senator also called forintegratingf comprehensive sexuality education in schools to teach the youth how to fight teenage pregnancies.

Teenage pregnancies may spike in calamity-hit areas – Gatchalian

The Commission on Population (PopCom) also urged to include  in the government’s pandemic and disaster preparedness programs.

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PopCom executive director Juan Antonio Perez III pushed for family planning efforts as part of the pandemic and disaster response.

“Practicing family planning and responsible parenthood should be part of medium- to long-term solutions toward building the resiliency of families and communities, as these would enable couples to have greater capacity to ensure their health, financial stability, and other social protections in the future,” Perez said.

He added that family planning would help the community overcome the pandemic and natural calamities.

As observed from COVID-19 trends in the country, PopCom said community transmissions are still high in densely populated areas.

Population factors, PopCom said, would aid local governments plan and implement their programs, with a focus on communities with demographic vulnerabilities.