The Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) expressed support for legislation filed at the Senate to raise the age of consent to no less than 16 years old.
In the budget hearing of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), of which Popcom is one of seven attached agencies, Undersecretary Juan Antonio A. Perez III said raising the age of consent can help “scare off” older individuals from exploiting teenagers.
Perez said teenage pregnancy has been on the rise in the Philippines in the past few years and pregnancy among children aged 10 to 14 years old more than doubled in just over 10 years.
“We also noted that many of these pregnancies of these 10-year-old to 17-year-old girls, their partners are older than them; about 90 percent have partners that are older than them. So there is an element of power play, of exploitation here because it’s older men who are the partners of these young girls,” he said.
Perez added the Popcom is recommending that the Senate also look into including all minors who are giving birth, many of whom are part of the vulnerable population, to be given social protection.
He said when teenage girls become pregnant, they drop out from school. If their family receives a conditional cash transfer (CCT), this government assistance will stop with their pregnancy.
Pregnancy, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, is the fourth top reason why children from CCT families drop out from school.
The Popcom executive director said these children should then be given assistance not only during their pregnancy but until they reach the age of 25 to help them support themselves and their child.
“The study from the UNFPA [United Nations Population Fund] shows if you are a minor parent, it’s likely you will not complete high school and you will have lower wages because of your non-completion of school,” Perez said. “If they drop out of school out of pregnancy, then they become even more vulnerable.”
He said their proposal is that once an adolescent has their own family, this family should be considered a different household and be given the full support of the CCT program.
Senate Finance Committee Chairperson Juan Edgardo M. Angara requested Perez to submit to the Senate a report on the number of teenage pregnancies in the country and their recommendations for future legislation.
Based on civil registry data, Perez said there were 62,000 teenage girls who gave birth in 2018. This was higher than the 60,000 recorded in 2017.
However, specifics such as reasons for the early pregnancy of these adolescents can only be found in the Young Adult Fertility Survey in 2013.
The data covered all regions nationwide and showed a doubling in terms of premarital sex among young adults, especially among the 15 to 19 years old. Between 2003 and 2013, premarital sex in this age group nearly doubled to 31 percent in 2013 from 20 percent in 2003.