Gov’t working to make issue of teenage pregnancy in PH a nat’l priority

Transcript

00:00 The Commission on Population and Development or CPD

00:03 asked to implement more measures that will address the rising number of

00:07 adolescent pregnancies in the country.

00:09 Chariza Espargo has the full details.

00:12 Luz Tolentino finds herself more than 200 kilometers away from her home in Bicol

00:20 as a house helper in Manila because at the young age of 20,

00:23 she is taking care of a five-year-old son.

00:26 Luz became a young mom at the age of 14 when an older man began courting her

00:32 and eventually impregnated her.

00:34 Eventually, she had to stop her studies,

00:36 especially after he walked out only two months into her pregnancy.

00:40 Luz only gets to see her son through video calls

00:54 because she works hard for his future.

00:56 Luz is one of the over 150,000 who become teenage mothers in the Philippines every year.

01:16 The administration aims to strengthen its efforts to make the issue of adolescent pregnancy

01:22 an urgent national priority.

01:25 This is to give young Filipinos hopes of a brighter future despite being a young or single parent.

01:32 The Commission on Population and Development or CPD,

01:36 with the aid of several government bodies,

01:38 hope to improve sex education and awareness for adolescents under the age of 15

01:43 and provide health care as well as reproductive care services

01:47 and institutionalized social protection of young parents.

01:51 We say that the Philippines is a gold medalist in teen pregnancy cases.

01:56 Chariza Espargo, from the National TV Network, for a new and better Republic.