THE United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has pointed out that the Philippines leads all other Asia-Pacific countries in teen pregnancy.
“Philippines is the only country in the Asia and the Pacific, where we have not seen a decrease in teenage pregnancy in the last two decades. It’s the only country with no decrease. In fact, we are seeing an increase,” said UNFPA Representative to the Philippines Klaus Beck at the launching of the State of the World Population 2016 Report (SOWP 2016).
The SOWP 2016 focuses on the ten-year-old girl and “How Our Future Depends on the Girl at This Decisive Age”, as the SOWP 2016 title says.
According to the UNFPA official, teen pregnancies in the country has increased from 53 out of 1,000 15 to 19 year-olds every year in 2008 to 57 out of 1,000 15 to 19 year-olds every year in 2013. That is a big ouch to us, but a bigger ouch to the Catholic Church.
The Philippines, touted as the world’s third biggest Catholic nation, is known for its Church’s stand against reproductive health rights, particularly family planning. Not even the threat of HIV-Aids could make the Catholic hierarchy in the Philippines reconsider its stance against condoms. It’s just one big no.
As it says no to all forms of contraception aside from the natural method, then it is up to the Church therefore to work on the values and morals of its members, to instill among the young the virtue of the girl being untouched until after marriage. But of course, the youths, both male and female, will scoff at that. The question is: Why?
Lurking beneath the many reasons and blames that will include parental irresponsibility, absentee parents, media, sex and violence in the internet, television, and the movies, and peer pressures is the irrelevance of the Church teachers to their daily lives. Note that we used teachers and not teachings. The teachings will always be the same and relevant to our lives, but for as long as the teacher fails to deliver the message, then the teachings are lost or regarded as irrelevant.
As Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UNFPA wrote in the SOWP 2016 Foreword: “When a girl reaches age 10, her world changes.
“A flurry of life-changing events pulls her in many directions. Where she ends up depends on the support she receives and the power she has to shape her own future.”
Meanwhile, in Davao City during the run-up to the World No Prostitution Day, the Talikala Inc, a non-government organization working with prostituted women and children since the 1980s, said prostituted girls are getting younger and younger. In 2014, the youngest prostituted girl Talikala has recorded was 11 years old. This year, it’s 14.