CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--With a 10.9% incidence of teenage pregnancy in northern Mindanao, the highest in the country, the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) urges the youth to make sound decisions and protect themselves from unplanned pregnancies.

In the Talakayan sa PIA, a media forum, Neil Aldrin G. Omega, regional director of CPD, shared that, based on the latest national demographic health survey, Northern Mindanao is number one in terms of the incidence of teenage pregnancy in the entire country.

In every 100 adolescents, 11 are already pregnant in northern Mindanao, he said.

Omega shared that young people should come up with two decisions they can use: First is abstinence, meaning avoiding engaging in any sexual activities, but for those who are already sexually active, the best decision that they can make is to protect themselves from unplanned pregnancies.

People are the most important resource of a country, of a community, and even of a family.

Omega explained, "What we are focusing on is our population structure, kining [this] age and sex structure, naa unta sa [it can] position nga [where] it can facilitate economic growth."

There are around seven dependents for every 10 people in the working age group. "That is a burden to those who are supposed to be naay trabaho [with jobs]," he said.

The working age group ranges from 15 to 64, but not all of them are working, Omega said.

In Region 10, there are three dependents for every one who is working, which means more people are consuming than producing.

"Mas daghan unta ta maka contribute diha sa atong pamilya, mas daghan unta ta ang more productive [More people should be contributing to our families; there should be more who are productive]," he said.

Based on the survey conducted by CPD to determine the fertility intentions of married couples, those surveyed said they only wanted two children but were not using any family planning methods.

"So this is where our government comes in, to help couples realize that aspiration to achieve goals for their family. We have programs, like family planning programs, wherein couples can avail of the services and realize their aspirations for their family, especially determining the number of children that they would want," the director said.

In 2019, a joint memorandum circular was issued between DOH and CPD, under which both agencies will co-manage the implementation of the family planning program.

In that joint memo circular, our task is to assist DOH, especially here in the region, in terms of distribution and warehousing of family planning commodities, in terms of capacity building of health service providers at the local government unit (LGU) level, he said. (JMOR/PIA-10)