MANILA, Philippines – Various civil society groups backing the contested adolescent pregnancy prevention bill used data, facts, and grassroots-level accounts to defend why they believe the proposed measure — along with comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) — would be the right way to curb pregnancies among young girls.

The groups’ press conference, held in Quezon City on Friday, January 24, came amid a controversy stemming from a religious initiative called Project Dalisay, which put out a now-viral video explainer criticizing CSE for what it claimed had inappropriate concepts being taught to children.

The civil society organizations, many of whom have worked on the bill and lobbied for it for years, believe the religious coalition behind Project Dalisay is leading a disinformation campaign against Senate Bill (SB) No. 1979, or the adolescent pregnancy prevention bill principally authored by Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros.

While Hontiveros has made efforts to debunk the claims from the religious coalition, she still filed a substitute bill amending the flagged provisions.

“We call on the President to review the substitute bill carefully and act based on evidence and our shared goal to support our children’s dreams and fight for a future where there are no more children having children,” the Child Rights Network (CRN) said in a statement released during the Friday press conference.

Alarming data, cases of abuse

Dr. Juan Antonio Perez III, vice president of the Forum for Family Planning and Development and former executive director of the Commission on Population and Development, gave an overview of the data on adolescent pregnancies in the Philippines, particularly in the context of how many happen because of abuse.

In 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority recorded a live birth from a nine-year-old mother for the first time. The same year, just 21 fathers were of similar age to the 3,343 mothers aged 9 to 14.

There were 11,479 live births in 2023 among children below 16. Perez said these may all be considered rape, since the age of sexual consent is 16.

But just 2,634 cases of rape were filed under the anti-rape law that year, which means most of the rapes that caused the young girls’ pregnancies were not reported.

The Department of Education has backed CSE in noting that it will help children understand boundaries and unsafe situations.

“One pregnant teenager is still one pregnant teenager too many…. [The girls under 15 who have become pregnant] are not many, but each one has a tragic story behind them. They really need our help,” said Perez.

Grassroots accounts

According to Elizabeth Angsioco, national chairperson of the Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (DSWP), poor communities struggle with properly educating their children about sex, which leads to teenage pregnancies. SB 1979 provides for the creation of CSE for parents as well, so that they can learn how to guide their children through sexuality as the kids grow older.

Angsioco told accounts of conversations DSWP had with mothers from poor communities.

“Some of the mothers say that they don’t want to talk about it because it’s crude. Others say, ‘Ma’am, even if I want to talk to my child about it, I don’t know what to say. Because even I wasn’t taught about it.’ What did the mothers say in the end? They said that they wanted their children to learn about sex and sexuality in school,” Angsioco said in Filipino.

For the young girls, Angsioco said, many do not want to talk to their parents about sex because “they will only get scolded.” Most of their conversations were on prohibitions — no dating, no boyfriends. This makes them seek information from social media or their peers.

“Early pregnancies more often happen among the youth in poor communities and families. They are the ones who lack information, education, and services so that they can take care of themselves, protect themselves, and make responsible decisions,” she said.

Dr. Angela Aguilar of the Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Society of the Philippines said obstetrician-gynecologists like her see the reality of the pregnancy risks among young girls.

Young girls who get pregnant, according to Aguilar, have higher rates of maternal morbidity and mortality, and adverse maternal outcomes of pregnancy like obstructed labor, obstetric fistula, placental abruption, complications such as preeclampsia and eclampsia, hemorrhagic conditions, and infections.

War among child rights advocates

Several members of the panel expressed disappointment at Project Dalisay’s viral video.

“We are disappointed and also we are offended by the arrogance of Project Dalisay…. They act and speak as if they have the monopoly of knowledge on how to protect children. Meanwhile, there were three to four Congresses when we talked about statutory rape, online sexual abuse and exploitation of children, prohibition of child marriage, and this adolescent pregnancy prevention — zero words were heard from this group,” said Aurora Quilala, deputy executive director of the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development and CRN convenor.

Quilala urged the proponents of Project Dalisay and their supporters to use the legislative process to discuss their concerns over the bill, instead of social media.

Former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who is one of the faces of Project Dalisay, earlier appealed to revert SB 1979 back to the committee level where parents can participate in the discussions.

Judy Miranda of Partido Manggagawa also lamented the coalition’s supposed “misrepresentation” in acting as the voice of mothers and communities.

“Sa buong proseso ng pag-lobby…ay kasama namin ang mahigit na 400 organizations nationwide. Nagkaroon ito ng napakaraming pag-aaral, konsultasyon, stories ng mga totoong buhay at mga kuwento na ngayon ay dini-disregard ng Project Dalisay with the arrogance ng kanilang mga personal na mga interes,” said Miranda.

(In the whole process of lobbying, we were with over 400 organizations nationwide. There were many studies, consultations, and real-life stories that Project Dalisay is disregarding with the arrogance of their personal interests.)

“Sanay po kami sa mahabang laban…. Hindi po kami titigil. Magiging batas po ‘yan,” said Angsioco. (We are used to long-haul battles. We will not stop. It will become a law.) – Rappler.com