By Nimfa L. Estrellado Policy makers demand CALABARZON local government units prioritize youth leadership and funding for new health and edu...
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| Policy makers demand CALABARZON local government units prioritize youth leadership and funding for new health and education centers to combat the nation's highest rate of adolescent pregnancy. (PIA) |
LUCBAN, Quezon – The Philippine government's strategy to combat the CALABARZON region's alarming adolescent pregnancy crisis pivots; it moves from simple policy implementation to demanding local government units (LGUs) create space for youth-led solutions. CALABARZON, the country's largest regional population center, now drives a national effort after recording the highest number of live births among girls aged 10 to 19 nationwide.
The recent ‘Dagyaw sa CALABARZON’—a Hiligaynon term for collective volunteerism and the government's open governance forum—served as the platform for this directive. While the national adolescent birth rate for ages 15-19 gradually decreases—falling from 57 per 1,000 women in 2013 to 25 per 1,000 in 2022—the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) warns the positive trend masks a deeper urgency.
The CPD demands focus shift to pre-age 15 births, a cohort highly vulnerable to health and socioeconomic complications. In 2023 alone, the region recorded nearly 500 births among girls aged 10 to 14, highlighting the severe vulnerability of this pre-adolescent group. These young mothers face significantly higher risks of pre-term delivery, low birth weight babies, and maternal mortality compared to older adolescents, often leading to a cycle of intergenerational poverty.
The national increase in births to girls aged 14 and below soared by over 35% between 2021 and 2022, prompting a renewed focus on legal protection. This data strongly supports the call by the CPD and health advocates for the Senate to swiftly pass the pending Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Bill, which seeks to institutionalize youth-friendly health services and safeguard adolescents' rights to accurate information.
Information Gap Hinders Prevention
CPD Information Officer II, Jasmine Osias, identified a critical gap: the lack of accessible, trustworthy information. This data shortfall severely hinders effective communication and reproductive health education at the grassroots level, particularly since many local health clinics lack updated materials tailored for young people, relying instead on decades-old family planning pamphlets.
This atmosphere of silence pushes vulnerable adolescents to seek information from unreliable sources, particularly social media and peers, leading to widespread misinformation about sexual and reproductive health. The CPD notes that breaking this cycle of misinformation requires not only updating materials but also training parents, teachers, and community leaders to serve as non-judgmental conduits of scientifically accurate advice.
"Many hesitate to ask their parents and professional adults [about sex]. This tells us that family communication and access to accurate information remain a challenge," Osias stated, concluding that the primary factor in early pregnancies is the non-use of protection.
DILG Mandates Youth-Led Solutions
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) insists national policies are useless unless youth champion and implement them. Dr. Alicia Manuel, Supervising Administrative Officer of the DILG’s Support for Local Governance Program, stressed local officials must prioritize youth inclusion at the table.
Under the Republic Act No. 10742 (The Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act), LGUs are already legally mandated to dedicate at least one percent (1%) of their annual Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) to fund Local Youth Development Plans (LYDPs). The DILG's current thrust is to strictly enforce this allocation to ensure that youth councils (LYDCs) have the operational funds necessary to execute projects specifically targeting adolescent health and pregnancy prevention, ensuring local accountability for national goals.
The DILG now requires local officials to establish or strengthen Local Youth Development Councils (LYDCs) and ensure these councils receive sufficient budget allocation to carry out community-based campaigns and peer education initiatives against adolescent pregnancy.
“We are strengthening laws, expanding CSE (comprehensive sexuality education, age-appropriate, scientifically accurate information), and building informed trauma care for victims. But the truth is: no policy will work if it does not resonate with you—the youth,” Dr. Manuel said.
Protecting the Economic Dividend
The DILG's mandate reinforces the Philippine Population and Development Plan of Action (PDP-POA) 2023-2028, the national blueprint co-drafted by the CPD. The PDP-POA aims to ensure the region's vast youth population (estimated at 2.9 million) is productive enough to "reap demographic dividend"—the economic growth that occurs when a country has a large proportion of working-age people.
Beyond the regional crisis, the CPD cites a 2016 study estimating that early childbearing costs the Philippines an annual economic loss of up to P33 billion in foregone earnings and lost opportunities. The long-term strategy, therefore, is not just a health initiative but a crucial economic measure designed to protect the national future workforce.
The economic potential of CALABARZON's large, young population faces continuous threat from the interruptions that early motherhood causes to education, job opportunities, and long-term financial stability for both mother and child. Unintended pregnancies can effectively halve a young woman's lifetime earning potential, contributing significantly to regional poverty incidence.
Local executives received a powerful directive: they must actively utilize existing policy frameworks to co-create solutions with the communities most affected, specifically by prioritizing the establishment of adolescent-friendly health facilities and dedicated youth resource centers across the provinces, thus turning the Dagyaw spirit into tangible, life-changing results for the region's young girls.
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