Over 3K children born to mothers aged 10-14 years old in 2023 —PSA study

The registered births to very young mothers have been increasing, with 3,343 babies born to children 10-14 years old in 2023, according to a study from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

In 2020, a total of 2,113 babies were born to mothers under 15 years old. It went up to 2,320 in 2021 and in 2022, the PSA recorded 3,135.

This was highlighted during a press conference Friday led by the Child Rights Network (CRN) and child rights advocates to call on the senators and President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to 'carefully review' and put much thought into Senate Bill 1979 or the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Bill.

Au Quilala, deputy executive director of the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development and convenor of Child Rights Network, said the government must support the teaching of sex education through trained professionals so that all children and youth can be given accurate and life-saving information.

"How can children prevent something like teenage pregnancy if they do not know anything or rely on inaccurate information that they've just heard somewhere? The Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study said that the number one source of information for young people about sex is not their parents but the Internet, followed by their peers," she said.

The study from PSA also showed that 44% of young Filipino females and 39% of young Filipino males lack material resources about sex, often relying on inaccurate sources like social media.

“Delikado kapag sa Internet lamang kumukuha ng impormasyon ang mga bata without proper discernment. May mga kaso rin kung saan ang mga magulang o guardians ng mga bata ang mismong nang-abuso sa kanila. We want to prevent abusive parents from continuing to manipulate and harm their children,” Quilala said.

(It is dangerous when children get information only from the Internet without proper discernment. There are also cases where the parents or guardians of the children are the ones who abuse them. We want to prevent abusive parents from continuing to manipulate and harm their children.)

“Ang CSE ay mahalaga dahil binibigyan nito ng espasyo ang mga bata para huwag mahiya at magkaroon ng lakas ng loob na magsumbong sa mga guro o awtoridad kung ang kanilang mga pangunahing tagapag-alaga ay hindi available o mismong sila ang nagdudulot ng panganib sa kanilang kaligtasan,” she added.

(CSE is important because it gives children the space not to feel ashamed and have the courage to report to teachers or authorities if their primary caregivers are not available or they pose a risk to their safety.)

Teen pregnancy also accounts for almost 60% of school dropouts among young girls, severely limiting their potential and costing the country billions in lost opportunities, the PSA said.

"Let's not wait before it's too late to protect more Filipino children from abuse and early pregnancies," Quilala added.

Earlier, CRN urged the senators and President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to 'carefully review' and put much thought into the substitute measure for Senate Bill 1979.

They also raised their concerns after seven senators withdrew their signatures from SB 1979.

On Thursday, Marcos said he would read the substitute bill first when asked if his stance would change following the development. —AOL, GMA Integrated News