NUMBERS (or figures) are said to be the closest encounter in witnessing the handwriting of God, at least this was according to writers Travis Beacham and Guillermo del Toro in the making of the 2013 film, “Pacific Rim.”
“Numbers do not lie. Politics and poetry, promises, these are lies. Numbers are as close as we get to the handwriting of God,” said by one of the supporting characters in the film, Dr. Hermann Gottlieb.
Maybe, following that narrative, God must have written so much about Filipinos on sex and population.
As mentioned earlier, while the rest of Asia Pacific had a slight decrease of teenage pregnancies as compared to about 10 or 20 years ago.
Philippines was the only country that appeared not to follow this trend, in fact it was the opposite.
In northern Mindanao alone, the regional office of the Population Commission (Popcom) has revealed its recent survey since January 2016 that there is already “an alarming percentage of teenage females who have also given birth to their second and third child.”
From the total of 610 female respondents aging from 10 to 24 years old, about 200 adolescents were found to have given birth in the last four years.
This means that 3.5 percent have given birth at age 14; 10 percent gave birth at 15, 23.5 percent at 16; 32.5 percent at 17; and 30 percent gave birth at the age of 19.
Popcom-Northern Mindanao also surveyed about 866,299 young adults with age bracket 16 to 24 years old this year. From the total number, about 276,349 or 31.89 percent have engaged in pre-marital sex, as 317,065 or 36.59 percent read pornographic materials.
Although engaging in “casual sex” and “Fubu (F* Buddies)” may have similarities of a “no strings attach” sexual relationship, Popcom-North Mindanao separated these as two different classifications.
About 47,646 or 5.49 percent young adults have engaged in casual sex, while 25,989 or 3 percent have Fubus.
Not to mention that there are about 19,925 or 2.3 percent who had sex in exchange for money and 14,727 or 1.69 percent who pay to have a sexual partner. It can be noted that the respondents may have given multiple answers.
At the end of the day, what does it tell us? Is this a reflection of moral and spiritual decline or dwindling state policies? Some say it’s the religious institutions, some would say the “liberated media influence”.
Although there has been a constant debate on bringing sex education to schools – proper teaching methods may help young people to be aware of the things pertaining to sexual intercourse and reproductive health.
The downside, they might apply these teachings to “good use,” of which religious institutions are very cautious about it.
This can be the “handwritings” of God upon us Filipinos, or simply put, we are just simply heating up inside the natural way.
[Email: nefluczon@gmail.com]