“Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan,” is an immortalized line of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal.

An immortalize line of our national hero noon at ngayon . Pero sa nagdaan na dalawang taon ng pandemic maraming nabago magpasimula sa larangan ng edukasyon at hanggang sa tumaas na bilang ng mga batang babae na nabubuntis. Ayun sa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System of the Philippine Statistics Authority sila ay nakapagtala ng 180,916 live births among adolescents aged 10 to 19 in 2019, according to the data from the The figure is equivalent to 495 live births per day in the 10 to 19 age group.

At ayun naman sa The Commission on Population and Development has noted the alarming rise in teen pregnancies in recent years. At the end of 2020, the Pop Com reported that 70,755 families were led by minors. They project that this number will balloon to 133,265 by the end of 2021.

At ito ang binigay na panayam ng pangulo patungkol ditto MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has declared the prevention of teenage pregnancies as a “national priority.” … Only three percent of all live births within the adolescent age group are fathered by men of the same age group, based on the January 2020 Policy Brief by the United Nations Population Fund Philippines.

By: Ethelrine A. Villanueva | Teacher II | Bataan National High School Senior High School