Press Release
July 30, 2018

SPONSORSHIP SPEECH OF AKBAYAN SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS: PREVENTION OF TEEN PREGNANCY

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Around the globe, 16 million adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 years old give birth every year. Over the same period, approximately one million young girls aged 15 years old and below-- a child in every sense of the word-- have given birth. My dear colleagues, by the time we started our session today up until the time we finish it at 7 pm, 240 Filipina girls aged 19 and below gave birth. By the time another day passes, 600 babies will be born to young girls.

Our young parents are getting even more younger and growing in a number we have never seen before, Mr. President. In 2012, there were 2,815 girls aged 15-19 years old and 12 girls younger than 15 years old have already given birth to their 3rd child. In the same year, 302 girls aged 15-19 years old have given birth to their 4th child and 60 girls in the same age range are already mothers to 5 children. In an age where they should be busy going to school and worrying about school projects, they are burdened with the heavy responsibilities of parenthood.

These are the numbers of the girls who gave birth and lived to tell the tale. The gift of life sometimes come at the cost of death. In 2012 alone, 128 per 1,000 Filipinas aged 15-19 years old have died giving birth while 255 per 1,000 girls aged 20-24 died in birthing rooms around the country. In fact, globally, the number one cost of death for girls age 15 to 19 is not AIDS, not hunger, it's not ever war -- it's child birth.

With these horrific numbers in mind, the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality finds it of great importance and necessity to sponsor Committee Report No 400 or SB 1888 entitled the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act. This committee report consolidates Senate Bill 1154 or the the Young Women's Refuge and Assistance act filed by Sen. Nancy Binay and Senate Bill 1482 otherwise known as the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act filed by yours truly.

This committee report was carefully written in order to ensure that it is a legislation that pushes for the rights of adolescents and their evolving capacities, one that is rooted in the principles of human rights and supported by interventions backed by evidence.

This bill pushes for the social protection of our young parents by ensuring that our young mothers are getting the necessary healthcare they need at all stages of their pregnancy. By providing the services they need such as post-natal family planning and counseling, workshops on parenting, and psycho-social and mental health support for teen mothers, we can prevent repeat pregnancies among our young mothers while ensuring their well-being as they assume the onerous responsibilities of parenthood.

The bill also reminds educational institutions and places of employment that suspension, expulsion, dismissal, or denial of admission is prohibited against pregnant girls. This will encourage girls to continue and finish their education. Disrupting a girl's education because of her pregnancy exacerbates vulnerability and poverty, with the young mothers carrying the cost for the rest of their lives. Low educational attainment in girls results in lower future earnings and adversely affects their entry to the labor market. Worse, it translates to poorer health and nutrition outcomes for the young mothers and their children.

Moreover, the bill recognizes the fact that young Filipinos are having earlier sexual initiations, usually unprotected. The 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study reported 23% of FIlipino youth are having sex before the age of 18. The median age at sexual initiation was 17.8 for males and 18.2 for females. The median age at first birth for our girls is at 19.3 years old. This bill recognizes this reality and has made measures to equip our children with the knowledge and guidance to make choices that they believe are the best for themselves. Schools, parents, and guardians are recognized as important sources of unbiased and scientifically accurate information on sexual and adolescent reproductive health and as such, are respectively capacitated and trusted to deliver the correct and necessary information to our teenagers.

Numerous articles underline the fact that so many girls are strangers to their own bodies, who do not know that it is possible to refuse having sex, that it is not right when you are pushed to have sex, that sex leads to babies. You have the story of DinDin in 2015, who got pregnant at 14 during her forced first intercourse. At 17 years old, she already had 3 miscarriages. We have the story of Angela, whose sexual initiation story also includes a partner who insisted her to have sex, even while she was pushing him away. She is now a mother of four and doesn't want to have any more children, children that she admitted doesn't have anything to eat sometimes.

We want to prevent more stories like these from happening, Mr. President. Our failure to address the issue of Teenage Pregnancy is a lose-lose situation for everybody. It perpetuates the intergenerational cycle of poverty and robs our children of their childhood.

We want our children to be children and to actually have a childhood, Mr. President. It is our duty, not only as legislators, but also as parents, to equip them with the knowledge they need to navigate the new and seemingly vast terrain of puberty and reproductive health and to guide them as they grow into adulthood that is not jarred by expectations of parenthood.

Maraming salamat po.

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