In concern over rising teen pregnancies, gov’t forget about teen dads

SAFE HAVEN FOR WOMEN Pregnant teenagers are not new to some nongovernment organizations. At Grace To Be Born dorm for pregnant women in Pampanga in March, at least five of 12 housemates are minors. —LYN RILLON

DAGUPAN CITY — Teen pregnancies remained high in this Pangasinan city, but agencies monitoring this phenomenon have not been keeping track of the teenage fathers.

Ophelia Rivera, city health officer, said government agencies gave priority to maternal health care, including monitoring young mothers who undergo prenatal checkups, but they never asked about their partners.

The Pangasinan provincial health office has no record of the fathers, such as their ages and how they cope.

“We only based our statistics on the reports of rural health officers,” said Dr. Cielo Almoite, assistant provincial health officer.

Health workers and school officials counsel young mothers but never include young fathers because the teenage girls’ parents often prefer to break up any relationship between the young parents.

Officials are now rethinking this approach because of the need to counsel both teen parents who will be raising a child, Almoite said.

137 teenagers

Rivera said the number of teen pregnancies in Dagupan rose to 137 from January to June this year. The youngest mother was 14.

From 2015 to 2017, 962 teen pregnancies were recorded in the city. But the number had been dropping from 371 in 2015 to 342 in 2016 and 249 in 2017.

Two private schools in neighboring Calasiao town had dealt with teen mothers but the school officials admitted they were clueless about the young fathers.

In one high school, a graduating student got pregnant and was given home-school work instead, to separate her from her peers.

“We had to go out of our way to visit her at home to give her lessons, just so she could graduate,” said Marlyn Javier, principal of Precious Minds Montessori and High School.

But while the school administration helped the girl, they did not ask about the student who impregnated her and if he also needed social and psychological assistance.

Another school in Calasiao had two pregnant students—one was already pregnant when she transferred from another school while a fourth year student got pregnant during the school term.

Parents’ decision

“It was during the juniors-seniors prom when I learned about it. I had no idea that my student was pregnant. But I was informed that the boyfriend was from another school,” said Chita Milan, director of Calasiao Educational Center. She had no more information about the boy.

A woman from Dagupan whose teen daughter got pregnant said she rejected the boy’s uncle and aunt, who reached out to her after learning about the pregnancy.

“They were very young. I know that the boy could not support my daughter and her child, so what’s the use of demanding support from him?” she said.

Postponement

“I just told his uncle that I would send my daughter to school and they would send their nephew to school. And if in the future they meet and still love each other, then they could marry,” she said.

The only time the teen father comes into the picture is when the girl’s parents file a complaint, said Maribeth Pascual, social welfare officer of Calasiao.

In cases that reached Pascual’s office, the girls’ boyfriends were usually older and the parents opposed the relationships.

But she said there were cases when the teen mothers still pursued their boyfriends, in spite of their parents’ disapproval.

“It’s a complicated situation, and we just advise the girls’ parents to file cases against older boys who prey on teenagers,” she said.