At
a counselling centre for pregnant teenagers run by local authorities in the
Philippine capital's Cubao district, nurse Lizel Hermosilla helps and offers
advice to about three girls daily in an examination room painted sunny yellow.
"They are mostly from poor families and
their numbers are rising," said Ms Hermosilla, as she ran a finger down a
long list of names and addresses.
Government statistics on adolescent
pregnancies released last month show a similarly disturbing picture on a
national scale.
The total number of annual births changed
little over the preceding 10 years. But the number of teenage pregnancies has
risen 70 per cent, from 114,205 in 1999 to 195,662 in 2009.
Based on data compiled from birth certificates,
of the 1.75 million live births in 2009, the latest review year, over 11 per
cent were by teenage mothers. The numbers have climbed steadily every year over
the period.
'Adult fertility rates are coming down across
all age groups, but not for teenagers," said Dr Junice Melgar, director of
the women's rights group Likhaan.
Ignorance and poverty, which cause large
numbers of children to drop out of school, are the main drivers of persistently
high rates of teenage pregnancies in the Philippines.
According to one survey, only 15 per cent of
adolescents said they discussed sex with their parents, a subject considered
taboo in many households.
Landmark legislation is in the pipeline to
allow "age-appropriate" sex education to be taught from age 11 in the
country's 55,000 state schools, as part of wider measures in a Responsible
Parenthood Bill.
The Bill is on the agenda in both chambers of
Congress, and is among a dozen pending laws President Benigno Aquino wants
passed quickly.
But it is fiercely opposed by the politically
influential Catholic Church for violating church doctrine forbidding artificial
contraception methods.
The church hierarchy fears that sex education
will lead to more promis-cuity among the young - a fear proponents of the Bill
say is unfounded because the curriculum will be based on promoting moral values
as well as the facts of life.
However, survey after survey shows that even
in this Catholic-majority country, ordinary Filipinos want access to
state-funded family planning health services.
In a poll published in August by Social
Weather Stations, 73 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement:
"If a couple wants to plan its family, it should be able to get
information from the government on all legal methods."
To Ms Hermosilla, a devout Catholic, sex
education should be at the forefront of efforts to cut teenage pregnancies.
"We see girls in here as young as 13 and 14, and many come to us only when
they are four or five months pregnant," she said.
The Teen Health Centre in Cubao is a rarity in
the Philippines. It was set up as part of Quezon City council's decision to
adopt many of the measures contained in the Bill.
In May, another centre was opened in
Commonwealth, one of the city's poorest districts. Patients at both centres get
free check-ups, vitamins and sympathetic counselling. Terminating a pregnancy
is not a legal option in the Philippines, which outlaws abortion.
Although not a formal rule, teenagers are
required to leave school and study outside 'once the bump shows', said Ms
Hermosilla.
The teenage pregnancy rate in the Philippines
is the highest among Asean's six major economies at 53 births per 1,000 women
aged between 15 and 19, according to the United Nations Population Fund's 2011
annual report released last week.
The rate for Singapore was five, and the
Asia-Pacific average was 34.
Congressman Waldon Bello, a strong supporter
of the Bill, believes mandatory sex education should 'definitely' bring down
the level of teenage pregnancies.
He is optimistic the Bill will be passed.
At the end of the day, he said, lawmakers will
realise this is a historic vote.
"They will not want to go down in history
as having opposed a measure that is so badly needed and that most Filipinos
want," he added.
Alastair McIndoe
The Straits Times
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