SAN FERNANDO CITY (PIA) –The Commission on Population and Development (PopCom) remains steadfast on its campaign to prevent or to alleviate cases of teenage pregnancy in Region 1.
Information Officer I Mae Grace Areola said PopCom is continuously undertaking advocacy activities to educate the youth, especially out-of-school youths, on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, as well as to raise fertility awareness.
Areola noted that PopCom, through partnership with various national government agencies like the Department of Education (Deped), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), is consistently implementing Comprehensive Sexuality Education.
Also, PopCom is trying its best to initiate and facilitate parent-teen talks to bridge the gap between parents and their adolescent children thus, help the latter make more well-informed and responsible decisions.
“We try to bridge ‘yong communication gap between parents and between their adolescent children kasi nga napag-alaman po sa mga studies natin na hindi na masyadong nakikipag-usap ‘yong mga kabataan sa kanilang parents, they seldom share na ‘yong mga experiences nila, especially they are undergoing na sa puberty which is their vulnerable stage,” Areola said.
She added, “Ang daming mga questions at mga information na kailangang maibigay sa kanila para maguide sila sa kanilang paglaki.”
Further, in view of the approved devolution transition plan, PopCom stages the Sexually Healthy and Personally-Empowered Adolescents or SHAPE Trainings to capacitate local population offices on their devolved functions.
Areola shared that based on the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study conducted by the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI), the rate of young mothers in the country declined from 28 percent in 2013 to 3.6 percent in 2021.
She also cited that cases of teenage pregnancy have declined in the region from 10.88 percent in 2020 to 13.71 percent in 2021. (JCR/MJTAB/CGC, PIA Region 1)
