Editorial Notes

In 2018, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the Davao Region recorded the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the country at 19.9% based on the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey. This rate is more than twice the national average of only 8.6%. In 2020, although the teenage pregnancy rate of the Davao Region decreased from 15,703 in 2018 to only 11,600 in 2020, it is still the highest in the country with Davao City topping the rank (3,320), followed by Davao de Oro (2,160) and Davao del Norte (1,906), while the other provinces have below a thousand teenage pregnancy cases reported. The age range of teenage pregnancy being monitored is from 10 to 19 years old (www/https://psa.gov.ph). Our children are bearing children! The figures of teenage pregnancy should have been a red flag, a wake-up call for our Local Government Units (LGU), the Department of Health (DOH) and our academic institutions from primary, secondary to tertiary. The PSA has enumerated many factors that may have contributed to this increase in teenage pregnancy rate in Davao Region. The top of the list is the lack of information and education on sexuality and reproductive health especially on the groups of indigenous people. Inadequate access to health services like family planning services is also an important factor during the pandemic since the medical resources of the government has been focused more to Covid-19 response. Teenagers could hardly go out because of the quarantine protocols, enhancing exposure to sex, early marriage and even abuse. This is a social emergency in Davao Region that every institution, including non-government organizations should contribute actions to manage teenage pregnancies. An open discussion on sex, sexuality, reproductive health, responsible marriage, parenthood and even divorce should be done starting within the family, then in our schools, universities, in religious gatherings, in the social media, radio and television programs. It should not be a taboo to teach teenagers how to use contraceptives and that a variety of these contraceptives are freely available in the Barangay Health Centers. Teenagers should freely express their sexuality and their choices should be guided with facts. For example, it is a fact that bullying is rampant among LBTQ community in all levels of society, prostitution has become ordinary just like online shopping, unpunished abuse among our migrant workers, and that the Philippines remains to be behind on the legalization of divorce and same sex marriage. These are important issues that the next set of national and local leaders of this country should act on. We need leaders who have a vision and concrete programs that will improve the well-being of our children. The institutionalization of the Gender and Development (GAD) is a good start, but not enough. Many challenges remain: discriminatory laws and social norms remain pervasive. Women and LBTQs continue to be underrepresented at all levels of economic and political leadership. The coronavirus outbreak exacerbates existing inequalities across every sphere, from the households to the health sector, working places and even in the different media platforms. Globally, we are being challenged to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by the 5th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) set by the United Nations. Now, how do you answer this answer this challenge?