Proposed law on early pregnancy prevention under study

CITY Vice Mayor Jocelyn B. Rodriguez presented last Friday to the City Council committees on health, nutrition and health insurance; on education and on social services, her authored proposed ordinance, which seeks to prevent early pregnancy and institutionalizing social protection, parenthood responsibility for child and early parent.

In her presentation, Vice Mayor Rodriguez opined that the proposed legislation is one of the most challenging policy-making measures, as it involves not only women but also male teenagers. She said the proposed ordinance covers pregnant teenage women and teenage men 10 to 19 years old. Vice Mayor Rodriguez pointed out that she invited resource persons to look into the nurturative nature of the proposed legislative measure.

“The ordinance is designed to protect the dignity of teenagers by coming up with local government services that will nurture them and bring them towards the direction where they may be able to unleash the potential for their own good and for the common good,” the vice mayor stressed.

PRESENTATION OF THE STUDY

During the meeting, Dr. Mary Koren W. Acuesa of Northern Bukidnon State College (NBSC) in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, presented the study on Incidence of Adolescent Pregnancy Pre-and Post-Pandemic in Region 10 that named Cagayan de Oro City having the highest number of incidences of teenage pregnancy. Following the data from POPCOM from 2017 to 2020, she said there is a 100-percent increase of teenage pregnancy incidence in Northern Mindanao.

Dr. Acuesa also cited that 78.3-percent are no longer attending school for the reason that they are taking care of their children and lack of personal interest. She proposed interventions such as comprehensive training of teachers handling sexuality education; inclusion of sexuality education as a stand-alone subject in the curriculum; creation of proactive materials/advertisements on social media; revisitation of Sangguniang Kabataan’s programs and activities; sexually education dissemination activities for out-of-school youth; solidification of life values in the teachings of sexuality education; and Ginhawa program of NBSC.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Meanwhile, Maria Theresa Fajardo of the University of Science and Technology in the Philippines (USTP) suggested that the proposed ordinance also include interventions from parents by coming up with a positive parenting program to prevent teenage pregnancy.

After thorough discussions, Councilor Maria Lourdes S. Gaane, chair of the health committee and co-author of the proposed ordinance, requested the resource persons to consolidate their comments and suggestions for consideration during the next meeting. Councilors Yvy Emano, Aga Suan, and Christian Ian Achas were also present during the meeting.