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POPCOM Focuses On Young Parents' Welfare

The document discusses the Commission on Population focusing on guiding young parents and educating teenagers about their role in nation building. Data shows a significant decline in teenage pregnancy nationwide from 2019 to 2020. Factors for the decline include the pandemic and POPCOM's work with partners to uphold the welfare of Filipino youth.

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50 views1 page

POPCOM Focuses On Young Parents' Welfare

The document discusses the Commission on Population focusing on guiding young parents and educating teenagers about their role in nation building. Data shows a significant decline in teenage pregnancy nationwide from 2019 to 2020. Factors for the decline include the pandemic and POPCOM's work with partners to uphold the welfare of Filipino youth.

Uploaded by

Steven Universe
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© © All Rights Reserved
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MANILA – The Commission on Population (POPCOM) said it will focus on guiding young parents

to become responsible for their families as well as educate teenagers of their crucial role in
nation building.

“We recognize the crucial role of our approximately 20 million young Filipinos in nation building,
that is why we are pushing and striving for an enabling environment for their welfare,” POPCOM
chief, Dr. Juan Antonio Perez said during the celebration for the agency’s 53rd anniversary on
Friday.

“As future innovators and leaders, we continue to invest and ensure that Filipino youth are
protected and their potentials developed as they eventually lead their own families and
communities,” he added.

This came as the country saw a significant decline in cases of teenage pregnancy.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Civil Registry and Vital Statistics (2019 and 2020),
the number of registered live births among adolescent mothers aged 10 to 17 significantly
dropped nationwide from 2019’s 62,510 to 2020’s 56,428 -- a variance of 6,082, or a 10 percent
decrease.

All regions exhibited declines in numbers, with the National Capital Region (NCR) having the
most pronounced decrease at 1,004 (from 7,536 in 2019, to 6,532 in 2020 for a 13 percent drop),
followed by Calabazaron (842: from 8,008 to 7,166), and the Zamboanga Peninsula (646: 2,574
to 2,139).

Zamboanga Peninsula’s figures translated into the highest percentage change for the period at
17 percent. It was followed by Region 11 (Davao Region, at 14 percent: 4,551 to 3,905) and NCR.

“The downtrend of adolescent pregnancies was a confluence of many factors, including the
pandemic, but also of POPCOM’s unrelenting collaboration with government agencies, local
government units (LGUs) like-minded partners and stakeholders in upholding the welfare of
Filipino youth, especially those who started to have families at a young age,” Perez said.

He also mentioned that there were only 51 births among 10 to 12-year-old girls in 2020: an
average of 1 birth a week, “which could be classified as results of statutory rape”.

Almost 60 percent of the fathers (59.47 percent) of the teen mothers and adolescents were 20
years or older, while 23.8 percent were below 20 years old. In 2018, the percentage of fathers 20
years old and older was 63.5 percent, indicating a decline in 2020.

Repeat pregnancies among adolescent mothers stood at 4,375, which was almost 8 percent of
teen births that year.

This figure is lower than the 4,633 repeat pregnancies in 2018. In all, repeat pregnancies among
teen and adolescent mothers were at 16.6 percent in 2020. (PNA)

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