DAVAO Region has recorded the highest teenage pregnancy cases in the Philippines with 17.9 percent, based on the 2017 report by the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Davao was followed by Northern Mindanao with 14.7 percent and Soccsksargen with 14.5 percent.
Data from the Department of Health (DOH) regional office revealed that Davao Region has a total of 18,320 cases of teenage pregnancy and it rose to a total of 18,403 cases in 2018.
In the first quarter of 2019 alone, Davao has recorded a total of 7,636 teenage pregnancy cases, higher than the average number of cases in the same period last year.
Davao City, meanwhile, pegged the highest among other provinces and local government units.
In 2018, the city has accounted for a total of 4,959 teenage pregnancy cases, followed by Davao del Norte with 3,387 cases.
With this ramped-up rate of teenage pregnancy, the Commission on Population and Development in Davao Region (Popdev-Davao) believed it is few notches near the alarming level.
"The trend is increasing," said Popdev-Davao Director Bai Agnes Sampulna in a press conference Wednesday, October 30.
"Hindi pa tayo sa talagang alarming na pero we are going there. Pag hindi ito na control, papunta na tayo sa emergency [level]. Habang maaga pa, agapan na natin," she said.
In a statement, Popdev bared the adverse effects of bearing a child young on the health and economy.
"When adolescents become pregnant, they have a higher prevalence of health risks; namely: premature delivery, low birth weight of the baby, neonatal complications and congenital anomalies. Those born preterm and with low weights are at risk of stunted growth," Popdev said in a statement.
The agency added: "Early pregnancy also puts an additional financial burden to the affected teens and their parents, which may contribute to the state of their household falling deeper into the pits of poverty. And, as the kids of teen mothers are more likely to have lower educational attainments, early childbearing could likewise perpetuate "intergenerational poverty."
With this, the agency called on President Rodrigo Duterte to issue an executive order acknowledging teenage pregnancy as a national emergency.
The agency has also urged Congress to "enable a law allowing the expanded access to modern family planning services for pregnant adolescents and those who already have children, as well as for those who already had a miscarriage, without requiring them for written parental consent."
Sampulna said this is one of the hurdles they faced with the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 or Republic Act 10354.
She said it would be difficult for teenagers to ask consent from parents especially when they got pregnant early.
She said they have been pushing for the passage of the Teenage Pregnancy Bill, and the establishment and strengthening of the National Youth Council.
Sampulna said one factor that influenced this increase is the lack of sexual education among adolescents and their parents.
Under the Popdev's No More Children Having Children advocacy, which seeks to stop the rise of teenage pregnancy cases, she said they have been establishing teen centers in public and private schools where sexuality education will be taught.
She added that they eyed to put up teen centers in communities to cater to the out-of-school youth.
"[They will learn] the advantages and disadvantages of early pregnancy and educate them on how to say no, how to counter the pressures with regards to sex," she said.
So far, they have established 103 teen centers in Davao Region and aimed to build more.
Apart from that, she said they are also beginning to use the teachings of the Fatwa Model Family in Islam in the Muslim schools in the region.
The Fatwa Model Family in Islam is a legacy Sampulna created in her stint as a chief in the Popdev in then Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm). It was instrumental in taking the region out from the Top 5 highest teenage pregnancy cases in 2017.
She said it was the lack of information and the religion-based customs, which were cited as the factors that spiked the teenage pregnancy cases in the Muslim-inhabited Armm.
"Among the reasons are parental arrangement, yung pag nahawakan lang ang kamay, ikakasal na so mapipilitan. Those are the factors affecting the increase in teenage pregnancy. Ibig sabihin, they lack education and information (Among the reasons are parental arrangement. Teenagers were forced to marry for touching the hand of the opposite sex. This means that they lack education and information)," Sampulna said.
"It is more than 10 [percent] before but now, they only have 6.8 percent," said Sampulna.
She envisioned replicating the same in Davao Region, tapping not only the Muslim community but also other religions and the indigenous peoples.
"It is just a beginning that we are engaging Baptist school in Davao del Sur. Nag-start na kami doon. If they have established teen centers in their schools, pwede na kaming pumasok ng dahan-dahan (We started there. If they have established teen centers in their schools, then we will slowly intervene)," she said.
She said there will also be peer consultation on sexuality, called "You for You," to identify the concerns of the adolescents and address them properly and Junior's Responsibility on Gender and Development Program.
Parents also have a huge role to play in reducing the prevalence of teenage pregnancies, inspiring their Parent's Education on Gender Development program and tap the Parents-Teachers Association in schools.