Philippines - Teenage Pregnancy Has Increased 70% in 10 Years

I am a strong supporter of the Philippine RH Bill for obvious reasons. The Catholic Church has, of course, been fighting this Bill for the past 14 years. Here is a recent story from the Daily Star with a bunch of hypocritical responses from Catholic Clergy. Maybe this should also be put under Shadow's proposed Humor" thread:

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said the reported increase in the number of teenage pregnancies in the country is an issue that must be addressed.

He was reacting to the report of the United Nations Population Fund that showed that teenage pregnancy in the Philippines has increased by 70 percent within 10 years since 1999 when 114,205 births were registered to 195,662 in 2009.

It added that almost 10 percent of Filipino women aged 15 to 19 have already given birth.

“I don’t know where they got the information but if it's true, then it is a question that we need to address,” Palma said after the mass he officiated at the Nuestra Senora de Guia in Manila yesterday.

Asked what might be the reason behind the supposed increase, Palma said, “Other people think that (by) using contraceptives such as condoms or pills, they will not get pregnant. We all know that it is not 100 percent sure to prevent pregnancy.”

He added, “Could it be also the result of a false notion about use of contraceptives and other devices but it could also be as we said a result of morality of a nation.”

However, Palma said the survey should have specified where in the country the supposed increased was recorded.

“It should be an issue that should concern all of us if we care for our young girls because as we all know it’s not the ideal situation that we would like to happen,” he added.

Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reye said that to prevent such thing from happening is to teach people to have self control and to have the right values in life.

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes and Baguio Bishop Carlito Cenzon both said they did not observe teenage pregnancy in their dioceses.

Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles said that the increase would not come from Metro Manila, saying that the faith of the people here are still intact.

“Many engage in premarital sex because of the proliferation of pills, condoms and pornography. But again not as many as in metro,” he added.

Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco said they have not made a formal study, but what is important is education and the formation of correct values. “And this starts at home, in the school and community,” he added

 

I think one of the primary reason for this is the lack of sex education. Schools dont teach sex education unless your into medical courses which is a shame plus the church is against contraception. :-( more unwanted pregnancies. Parents arent helping either because some of them thinks its bad to educate your kids about sex cause they might want to do it out of curiosity or peer influence and it has more to do with the country being so devoted to the church and church says no to premarital sex! No to contraception which is just load of bs!

 

They are teaching sex ed in schools now. A month or so ago we were helping a 5th grader with her homework. The assignment was;

Buy two eggs, one fertilized and one sterile.

Break them open

Explain the difference.

YUP educated all of us!



Larry

 

I recently watched an interview with a Mr. Washington SyCip on ANC News. He is an elderly (92 years old) but very lucid and intelligent Chinese Filipino, founder of the Asian Institute of Management among others. He believes that overpopulation is the biggest problem facing the Philippines today. He blames overpopulation as partial cause of the poverty, high unemployment rates, low average education levels, low fish stocks, rice insufficiency, and even some of the corruption here in the Philippines. Obviously, overpopulation is not the only cause but I tend to agree that it is a big contributor to these problems. He also stated that he fully agrees with the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill supporters and also went on to say that things will not improve much until the Catholic Church steps back and allows progress in the area of family planning. This is all very interesting coming from a 92 year old.

 

As a 92 year old, he should be wiser than those that are younger than him if he has been observant and learned anything.

 

To count the increase in absolute births is completely useless, as the population has increased too. With the current population growth I would assumed the women in age 15-19 to increase quite a lot.
Assuming it's only women giving birth, and that it's mostly in that age interval they have a significant firth rate at all, they need to put the absolute numbers in relation to the increase of the population.

 

lol thats not too bad lucky the homework didnt say "show me yours and ill show you mine?" i wonder how will you react then. :-)

 

The Phils need sex Ed, the girls think withdrawal works, well the boys tell the girls it works or at least they will withdraw, my asawa’s sister goes to a local school here and there is already two 15 year girls pregnant this year, the young girls need to be taught open those legs and you will have a baby, it’s not a matter if but when.

 

What seems to work very well is the "purity" or abstinence curriculum that some schools and churches here teach. My wife comes from a family with 8 kids, 5 of them girls. All of them had it pounded into them that they were not to have sex until they were married, and it worked!

The other thing is close supervision. That is why some fathers demand that their daughters are chaperoned until the family thinks it can trust her suitor.