(AP File photo)
MANILA, Philippines — A proposal to create a national action plan and an inter-agency council against teenage or adolescent pregnancy has hurdled the House of Representatives after 232 lawmakers voted in its favor.
House Bill (HB) No. 8910 or the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Act was approved on third and final reading during the plenary session on Tuesday.
None of the lawmakers present abstained or voted against HB No. 8910.
Under the said bill, an Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Inter-Agency Council is proposed, which will serve as the country’s “policy-making body responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies and programs that shall provide family-oriented, adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health programs”.
This council and the Commission on Population and Development (PopCom) would spearhead the National Program of Action Investment Plan for the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy.
“The Council shall, in collaboration with other relevant national agencies, non-government organizations (NGOs), and civil society organizations (CSOs), develop an evidence-based National Medium-Term Plan for the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy,” the bill stated.
“This program of action shall serve as the national framework for inter-agency and inter sectoral collaboration and resource allocation at all levels, to address the various health, cultural, socio-economic, and institutional determinants of adolescent pregnancy,” it added.
The bill, if enacted, would also place community-based and appropriate sex education programs, with respect to norms and cultural sensitivities.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said the bill is important as it would address teenage pregnancy — a problem that worsened during the lockdown periods due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The social cost of this issue and the negative impact on the national budget could run into billions – in terms of the government having to take care of young mothers and their babies,” Romualdez said.
“There is also the human development aspect,” he added.
Earlier this year, a non-government organization called on Congress to pass laws that will address pregnancy at a young age.