DOH draws flak for ‘tactless’ teen pregnancy infomercial
MANILA, Philippines―Netizens slammed an infomercial on teenage pregnancy launched by the Department of Health (DOH) for being tactless and using the words “gaga” (crazy) and “bobo” (dumb).
The video featuring a cheer squad doing stunts in a school gymnasium was uploaded in the DOH official Facebook page around 9 p.m. Sunday. It was taken down two hours later.
The infomercial, which promotes abstinence, uses a Filipino song with the lyrics, “Di naman ako gaga girl. Di naman ako bobo boy.”
The song urged teenagers to finish their studies first and abstain from premarital sex with the euphemism “isuko ang bandera” (surrender the flag, which denotes a woman giving up her virginity).
Screengrab from official DOH Facebook account
“Wag mag-alala, di kami tanga (Don’t worry, we’re not stupid),” the song goes.
The video ends with acting Health Secretary Janette Garin saying the slogan, “Ang planadong buhay ay maayos na buhay.”
Netizens slammed the DOH for using such derogatory remarks against teenagers. A Facebook user named Maria Saika said that “Sana mas maayos na words ang ginamit. Gaga girl and bobo boy and tanga, hindi magandang pakinggan at ma practice na sabihin.”
Jaime Constantino said that the video was “tactless.” Another netizen named Christian Anicoche said that “this music is not helping our teenagers. Bad music, worse lyrics ever to give a message to our teens. You describing them as Gaga Girl and Bobo Boy is very stupid. Hindi nakakatulong yan. Tsk!”
Some social media users also noted that the song’s melody was allegedly “plagiarized” from Korean pop group f(x)’s “Rum Pum Pum Pum.”
According to the data from the Young Adult Fertility Survey conducted in 2013, 13.6 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 years old were either pregnant or first time mothers, 1 in 10 girls aged 15-19 years old has become a mother while 2.6 percent were pregnant with their first child.
INQUIRER.net sought the DOH for comment but has not received a reply as of posting time.
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