Fact Sheet

“I am 34 years old, I have a 14-year-old daughter and a 2-month-old grandchild.”

Something’s not quite right with this statement, but it’s a situation many Filipino parents find
themselves in. “When I first found out, I was dazed,” Aleng said in Filipino. “I was informed by
the aunt of my daughter’s boyfriend.” “I was told that my teenage daughter is pregnant,” she
continued. “I was shown my daughter’s pregnancy test, it was positive.” Aleng herself first got
pregnant at 17, then again at 19. She said she didn’t want her daughters and granddaughter to
experience the same hardships. In the Philippines, 1 in 10 girls ages 15-19 is already a mother
or is pregnant with her first child, the 2013 National Demographic and Health Survey found.
Many of them are forced to quit school. Some return to class later on, however, others never get
to go back.
Among them is Aleng’s daughter. “My daughter can’t return to school for now because of
what happened," said Aleng. As a single mom, Aleng supports her two daughters and one
grandchild. She works in a neighborhood cafeteria owned by her parents. “My daughter’s
boyfriend isn’t in school either, he works instead,” Aleng shared. “He earns 300 pesos a day.”
When it comes to childcare and finances, many teen parents rely on their parents or
grandparents. But what will happen once their adult relatives are no longer there to support
them and their children? Hence the need for these adolescents to continue their education.
Pregnancy at a very young age also poses health risks for both mother and baby –
especially if they are unaware of health services available to them, such as prenatal care. Risks
include the baby’s premature birth or low birth weight. Meanwhile, pregnant teens are
vulnerable to having high blood pressure. According to the same survey, 1 in 5 Filipino women
ages 18-24 had already experienced sexual activity before turning 18.
Many young Filipino girls and boys remain unaware of the consequences of unprotected
sex. “I told my daughter that I hope she won’t have another baby so soon. Study first,” shared
Aleng. To achieve this, Aleng now teaches her adolescent children about reproductive health.
She openly discusses the prevention of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted
diseases. "We encourage parents to be accepting, respectful, and honest in communicating
with their adolescent children," said Dr. Miel Nora, Save the Children Philippines' Adolescent
Sexual and Reproductive Health Advisor. "Be available when your children ask about sex and
sexuality," Nora explained. "Be honest if you don’t know the answer, but be sure to get back to
them once you have the proper reply."
Both girls and boys should be equally educated on this matter – and the latter should be
taught how to respect women and girls starting at an early age. Parents, of course, are
expected to set a good example. "We remind parents that they have a responsibility to protect
and help children in areas where they may be at risk," Nora said. "Providing parents with right
information is one way of protecting children."
Aleng is among the parents and teenagers Save the Children trains on Adolescent
Health. She advises parents to read up so they may properly answer their children's questions
such as those about safe sex, menstrual health, puberty, among many others. "Parents should
be comfortable to talk about sex with their adolescents," Nora stressed. "They play a big role in
shaping their children's view and values on sex." "Most parents think it’s inappropriate to talk to
their child about sex, however, there's plenty of research showing that adolescents choose to
have sex much later and are more like to stay safe it their parents built an open and honest
relationship with them, and provided them with accurate and age-appropriate information."
Empower and protect more young Filipinos through education.

Secondary
TACLOBAN CITY — Christine Homeres Villanueva, 16, and her 19-year-old husband
were among the hundreds of thousands of young Filipinos who had to drop out of school due to
early teenage pregnancy. Ms. Villanueva, who lives in the central Philippine province of
Southern Leyte, got pregnant last year and is expected to give birth in March. “I almost lost
hope when we found out that I was pregnant,” she said by telephone. “I was thinking of my
future and the challenges of raising my child.” Teenage pregnancy poses serious threats to
Philippine economic growth particularly on its labor force, according to experts from the World
Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN).
One out of 10 births in the Southeast Asian nation are from mothers under the age of 19,
Leila Joudane, country representative of the UN Population Fund, said at the launch of a
campaign against teen pregnancy in the central Philippine city of Tacloban on Monday. The
Philippines is estimated to lose P33 billion a year due to adolescent pregnancy, which the
Philippine government considers a national priority, she told a news briefing. Foregone income
of teenage girls who get pregnant is P83,000 a year. “When she gets pregnant early, she would
earn much less than people who continue to study,” Ms. Joudane said. “The issue of adolescent
pregnancy affects her potential future.”
The Philippine Health department, WHO, UN and Korea International Cooperation
Agency launched a campaign against teen pregnancy in Samar and Southern Leyte — two poor
provinces in Eastern Visayas, which has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the
country. The $1-million program targets 275,538 adolescents and will train 150 health service
providers, 150 public school teachers and 360 local government units in 20 towns in these
provinces. The Philippines faces a learning crisis that experts say threatens the Filipino labor
force, which is struggling to compete in the global market. “Adolescent pregnancy is not only a
health and education problem but also an economic development issue,” UN Philippine
Resident Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez told the briefing. He said adolescent pregnancy is a
combination of trauma, costs and losses. “From a health perspective, adolescent pregnancy
brings up complications. It is costing the health system,” he said. “There are economic losses
because [they are] an important part of the human capital of the Philippines that cannot be fully
integrated into the labor market.” Mr. Gonzalez said teen pregnancy is among the major factors
why the Philippines’ female labor force participation rate is among the lowest in Southeast Asia.
He said a massive campaign against teen pregnancy is a development investment
because it can improve human capital. Health department officer-in-charge Maria Rosario S.
Vergeire said adolescent pregnancy could result in poor social and economic outcomes “for
both the adolescent mother and her child.” Adolescent mothers are more likely not to finish high
school or college and are likely to be unemployed, she told the briefing, citing a UN Population
Fund study. “More importantly, the poor outcomes also extend to their children, who are also
more likely to have poor nutrition and education outcomes,” she said. “This has effects not just
on the individual, but on society as a whole.”
 The UN body said the Philippines would benefit from its younger demographic structure
— one of three Filipinos are below 18 years. But the window opportunity that the demographic
dividend brings may be lost if Filipinos are not able to care for their sexual and reproductive
health and their families, it said. DATA PROBLEM “Those who have been previously pregnant
as teenagers are more likely to become pregnant again as teenagers, making them less likely to
join the labor force,” Education Assistant Secretary Dexter A. Gablan said. Live births among
those aged 10 to 14 between 2016 and 2021 increased by 11%, according to the Philippine
Statistics Authority. There were 2,299 births from the age group in 2021, higher than 2,113 in
the previous year. Teenage pregnancies fell to 5.4% in 2022 from 8.6% in 2017, according to a
2022 survey by the local statistics agency. Among teens aged 15 to 19 years who have been
pregnant as of 2022, the highest percentage was recorded among those aged 19 years at
13.3%, it said. “This was followed by women aged 18 years at 5.9% and women aged 17 years
at 5.6%.” Ms. Vergeire said there might be a problem with the data since the country has
struggled with COVID-19 for almost three years now. “A lot could have been detected if we were
in normal times,” she said. “But we were in abnormal times.” She said authorities should verify
the accuracy of the data, adding that the government should find out whether the pandemic had
an impact on the reporting of teenage pregnancies in recent years.
Ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte issued an executive order in 2021 to make the fight
against teenage pregnancy a national priority. He ordered all government agencies to identify
and implement “practicable” interventions to ease adolescent pregnancies, including sex
education, employment opportunities for young people and health promotion through media. Mr.
Gablan said the Education department has been enforcing sex education in public schools,
which requires “upskilling teachers” and making the program appropriate for various regions. He
said the agency is looking at hiring more guidance counselors and health workers to boost
access of young mothers to health services in schools. The Department of Health and its
partner agencies the UN and WHO seek to expand their pilot program in Eastern Visayas to
other parts of the country. Ms. Villanueva, the expectant mother, said she plans to study again
after giving birth. “We want them to complete their basic education because this will enable
them to once again regain confidence,” Mr. Gablan said. Alternative modes of learning will give
young parents the opportunity to continue their education, he added.