TWO local lawmakers gave opposing views on how to address the rising cases of teenage pregnancy in Cagayan de Oro City and Northern Mindanao region.
Councilor Edgar Cabanlas said teenagers should have condom with them, as he sees it to be the simplest solution to the problem.
Cabanlas said giving out condoms is the most practical solution to prevent young women from getting pregnant.
"You cannot prevent this pregnancy, this has been going on since time immemorial, before Christ, it is our nature," he said.
"Naa naman atong balaod sa RH (Reproductive Health). Nagproblema ta how to implement this, naay issue sa religion. To what extent are we going to teach our children about sex?" Cabanlas said.
He added that sex education is an important aspect to minimize or prevent teenage pregnancy.
"But ang atong law is pro-choice, depende sa ato if i-follow ang teachings sa Church sa paggamit sa traditional anti-pregnancy methods or sa modern or gobyerno ba nga style," Cabanlas said.
"Remember that teenage pregnancy is not only about delivering a baby but ang pag-atiman sa bata pagpadako na that is the most important consequence nga pagpanganak na premature," he emphasized.
But Councilor Reuben Daba said the children should be taught to fear God to prevent them from engaging in premarital sex.
"Tudluan gyud ang bata sa pagkahadlok sa Ginoo kay imagine what is in the bond of marriage ila ng ginahimo outside of marriage," the councilor said.
Daba highlighted that a spiritual intervention should be applied by parents to children.
Councilor Jocelyn Rodriguez has earlier raised the need to pass measures against the rising teenage pregnancy cases in the city. Rodriguez said a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) indicates that 15 percent of young women within the 15-19 age bracket is bearing a child, compared to the 9 percent in the national level.
Rodriguez said she also learned that in 2017, Cagayan de Oro had a total 13,405 deliveries, and 79 women who gave birth are between the ages of 10 to 14 years old, while 1,763 of them are 15-19 years old.