Rising teen pregnancies alarm execs of Dagupan

DAGUPAN CITY—The high number of teenagers getting pregnant in this coastal city in Pangasinan province has alarmed local officials, prompting them to implement measures that they hoped will stop the trend.

“It is alarming. But it might have led to an uncontrollable situation had we not been extremely active in our campaign to stop it,” said Alex de Venecia, city population officer.

Based on data from the city population office, 318 girls, aged 14 to 19, from the city’s 31 villages were recorded pregnant last year.

Almost half of them (117) were girls below 18 years old, who, De Venecia said, could not even get married because they are minors.

As a consequence, he said, these young mothers will have to stop going to school to take care of their babies.

“What is pathetic is that these kids do not have jobs and they depend on their parents,” he added.

De Venecia said he learned of the rising number of teenage pregnancy cases in the city last year when his wife, Dr. Julita de Venecia, who works at the city health office, told him that some teenagers have come to see her for medical checkup.

He then conducted a survey and discovered the high number of pregnant teenaged girls.

“There could be more. We had a hard time getting information because some parents invoked privacy,” De Venecia said.

In an effort to arrest the increasing number of pregnant teenagers, the city population office conducted symposiums in different public and private schools in the city to discuss teenage pregnancy and its consequences.

“Teenage pregnancy is preventable. If we relentlessly educate and warn the younger generation on the consequences of being pregnant prematurely, they will have a better future,” De Venecia said.

He said peer pressure and the media were among the influences that his office had identified as major factors leading young girls to get involved in casual relationships and get pregnant.

“In public high schools, for instance, there are fraternities and sororities. If you join, you are forced to do things that you don’t really want to do. [You are forced to do things] just to be [accepted by your peers],” De Venecia said.

“Some teenagers also want to experiment. Unfortunately, in many cases, even if they only had sexual contact once, the girl would get pregnant,” he said.

De Venecia said the young girls are in a disadvantaged situation because their partners leave them once they get pregnant. Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon