PEER counseling is observed as the most effective way to reduce the high rates of teenage pregnancy and early marriage in Davao Region, an official said Thursday.

During the 2015 Regional Population Congress at the Pinnacle Hotel, the Commission on Population (PopCom) executive director Dr. Juan Antonio Perez III said more than 500 teenagers are giving birth everyday in the country which sums up to at least 200,000 per year.

Since the introduction of Popcom's Adolescent Health & Youth Development, where selected teenagers learned the proper way to explain to their peers the essence of sexuality, there has been a drop in the number of teenage pregnancy cases in the country.

"We resort to peer educators because the comprehensive sexuality education has not yet entered the curriculum. Hopefully, it will be included in the K-12," Perez said.

The Congress was highlighted with the awarding of 2014 Best Practices of Rafael M. Salas Population and Development.

Awardees in Davao Region, for the municipal level, were Asuncion, Davao del Norte in third place; Caraga, Davao Oriental in the second place; and Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur got the top place.

For the city level, Panabo City claimed the title of being the city with best practices of the RMSPDA followed by Digos in second place, and Tagum in third.