500 Filipino teenagers give birth every day, says POPCOM director

By KAELA MALIG, GMA News, Jul 11, 2019

Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) Executive director Undersecretary Juan Antonio Perez III said that around 500 Filipino teenagers give birth every day.

During the World Population Day Forum on Tuesday, of which the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is a co-coordinator, Perez said that around 196,000 teenagers aged 15 to 19 years old give birth every year.

According to POPCOM’s press statement, women aged 15 to 19 years old who have given birth or were pregnant with their first child have increased since the 1990’s.

From just 6.5% back in 1993, it jumped to 8.6% in 2017.

Perez said that teen pregnancies could have been caused by exposure to the internet.

He said, “Ang nagpre-premarital sex ngayon umaabot na ng 1/3 ng kabataan. Ang palagay namin tumaas yan dahil may access na sa internet sa social media.”

“Nakita namin na mas maaga mag-internet, mas likely magka-risky behavior. You have the content doon na walang filter,” he added.

His department also noticed that those who do engage in premarital sex aren’t ready and the women aren’t protected from pregnancy or even sexually transmitted diseases.

Currently, Perez said, POPCOM is working with Department of Education, Civil Society and the Department of Health to reduce risky behavior and to urge the importance of comprehensive sex education.

Meanwhile, Filipino women are having fewer children. In 1993, they had an average of 4.1 children while in 2017, they were having 2.7 children. — LA, GMA News