“We have incidences of 10-14-year-olds engaging in risky sexual behavior and eventually getting pregnant. It’s gradually increasing,” said CPD Regional Director Harold Alfred P. Marshall during the recent Population, Health, and Nutrition (PHN) Sub-committee meeting.

According to the report, the province of Negros Occidental noted the highest number of registered live births among adolescent mothers with 3,305, followed by Iloilo Province with 2,390, Capiz with 973, Aklan with 694, Antique with 555, Iloilo City with 382, Bacolod City with 256, and Guimaras with 232.

All provinces and highly urbanized cities in the region showed a decrease from 2020 to 2021. However, an increase from 2021 to 2022 was noted in all areas, with Negros Occidental noting the highest percentage of increase at 20.5 percent.

Marshall further noted that the said concern has been identified as one of the population issues and trends under the PPD-PoA 2023-2028.

AHD is one of the eight key strategic actions in the said plan of action, with five specific strategies.

These include the implementation of Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) in schools and communities, improving access to sexual and reproductive health, preventing sexual violence among women and girls, sustaining programs addressing socio-economic dimensions of adolescent pregnancies, and ensuring strengthened youth development participation initiatives at the community level.

“This will give us some impetus and perhaps imprimatur to come up with our own response in accordance with our respective mandate as a national government [agency] representing that sector,” Marshall added, encouraging PHN Sub-committee members to incorporate population and development (PopDev) initiatives into their respective programs and services.

He also offered technical support to any agency or LGU that may need assistance in identifying PopDev programs based on the mandates of each agency.