CALAMBA CITY, Laguna (PIA) --Government agencies are optimistic that the implementation of the Social Protection Program for Teenage Mothers and their Children (SPPTMC) will help make sure that no Filipino will be left behind due to unplanned pregnancy.

Last June 10, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Commission on Population and Human Development (POPCOM) formalized their collaboration after signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that covers the development of an information system to identify teen moms and their children nationwide, services they can access such as nutrition support, mental health, ability to return to school, and a social amelioration program to support those belonging to the lowest socioeconomic bracket until they are able to find gainful work or livelihood.

DSWD Spokesperson Irene Dumlao said that their agency allotted around P6-M for the pilot implementation of the SPPTMC to ensure its full coverage by 2022.

“In 2020, the DSWD conceptualized the teen support psychological support for teenage parent families. Their well being will be improved thus enabling their families to graduate from the program,” Dumlao said.

POPCOM Executive Director, Undersecretary Juan Antonio Perez, III said the MOA will help create a technical working group that will establish mechanisms for program monitoring, as well as a strategy paper that will spell out the program design, which is expected to be published this September.

“This is a fruitful partnership in ensuring teen mothers and their children are protected and supported to achieve their full potential. Teenage pregnancy undermines girls’ health and opportunities. In as much as it takes a village to raise a child, it will take a whole nation to solve the problem of teen pregnancy,” Perez said of the partnership between the two agencies.

“It has been established that adolescent mothers are at a gross disadvantage in terms of potential earnings in their lifetime, making them more economically vulnerable in life—compared to their peers who have finished secondary education and have yet to bear children,” said the POPCOM chief, underscoring the financial strain adolescent mothers experience.

Perez also noted that teenage mothers forego at least four times less than their expected earnings, causing them to heavily rely on their family’s savings.

Despite the program’s promise of a better life for young mothers, DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista admits that addressing the multifaceted issue of teen pregnancy in the country cannot be solved solely by their agencies.

“Through this partnership, we can mutually prevent teenage pregnancies and establish sufficient and accessible measures to protect the well-being of teenage mothers and their children, as envisioned in the Philippine Development Plan, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” Bautista adds. (PB)