Pregnancy among girls below 15 rising–PopCom. Inquirer Newsletter September 18, 2020

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The winner of arguably the world’s top accolade will be announced on Oct. 9. –STORY BY REUTERS Read more: http://bit.ly/inq-plus   Newsletter / Join us Has this been forwarded by a friend? Subscribe now to the Philippine Daily Inquirer Newsletter and get your latest news and important updates on COVID-19 and the enhanced community quarantine. Subscribe   Register     Banner story Pregnancy among girls below 15 rising–PopCom By Leila B. Salaverria The number of children below 15 years old who had gotten pregnant has doubled in 10 years, according to the Commission on Population and Development (PopCom), which is backing a proposed law to raise the age for statutory rape and improvements in “sexuality education” to curb teenage pregnancies. PopCom Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III said pregnancies among children aged 10 to 14 years old went up to 2,200 in 2018, more than double the 1,000 in 2007. “It’s the one figure that has been increasing,” Perez said in a Senate budget hearing on Thursday, referring to the age group. Age of consent “We have roughly ... 40 to 50 10-year-old children giving birth every year,” he added. In all, there were 62,000 minors aged 10 to 18 who gave birth in 2018, he said. Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said raising the age of consent in the country from 12 years old to no less than 16 years old could help prevent adolescent pregnancies. This would mean that those who have sexual relations with minors 16 years old and under will be held liable for statutory rape, he said. “I am sure the number of teenage pregnancies would go down if we could increase the statutory rape age,” he said. Perez said he backed Zubiri’s bill and noted that most of the girls aged 10 to 17 year old who got pregnant had partners who were older than them. 14 similar bills “So there’s an element of power play, of exploitation here because it’s older men who are the partners of these young [girls],” he said. Aside from Zubiri’s bill, there are six proposed measures in the Senate to raise the age for statutory rape to either 16 years old or 18 years old. There are at least seven similar bills in the House of Representatives. Raising the age for statutory rape “would at least be a barrier or might scare off these predators,” Perez said. He also said PopCom had been working with the Department of Education and the Department of Health on a road map to check teenage pregnancies. He noted pending bills in Congress to provide comprehensive “sexuality education” to communities and related services. Restricted access “At the core of that [road map] will be implementing comprehensive sexuality education. But we hope that the new bill, if it comes out, would be able to address comprehensive sexuality education also outside of schools and link this education to services,” he said. Perez said the rule prohibiting minors, even those who are already mothers, from accessing family planning services without their parents’ consent had contributed to the increasing number of adolescent births. The bills could expand the reach of measures to prevent adolescent pregnancy beyond what is allowed under the reproductive health law, he said. Perez said all minors who gave birth should be considered part of the vulnerable population and given social protection until the age of 25. Cash aid Based on studies, minors who get pregnant are unlikely to finish high school and get lower wages, he noted. He said children of beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer program would be disqualified from getting benefits if they dropped out of school, as attending school is one of the requirements to stay in the program. Perez said PopCom had been in talks with the Department of Social Welfare and Development about this matter and had proposed that adolescents with children should be considered a separate family, which could be eligible for the cash aid.   Read more: newsinfo.inquirer.net   Editorial Shambolic governance Last week, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade announced that the current physical distancing imposed on PUV passengers will be reduced from 1 meter to 0.75 meter starting Monday. Then, the distance will be progressively relaxed until it reaches 0.3 meter, allowing PUVs—including the MRT and LRT trains—to carry more commuters. What is the basis for the progressive reduction in physical distance? The order was "not a knee-jerk reaction…but a product of research," Tugade maintained. In its website, however, the World Health Organization continues to advise individuals to '(m)aintain at least a 1-meter (3 feet) distance' from the next person. The health department was in fact not consulted on the new policy; neither was it approved by the government task force. That's according to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, who declared that the regulation should be rescinded as it was issued without the imprimatur of local medical experts and the task force. With even Cabinet members publicly disagreeing on the issue, the matter is left once more, in the words of presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, "to the wisdom of the President," and that Malacañang would "reassess" the policy and consider the opinion of medical experts. Good grief, shouldn't that have been done before a single word of the new policy was crafted and announced? 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