Survey shows young population of mothers

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—If the numbers are to be the gauge, Pangasinan could be one the country’s provinces with the youngest population of mothers.

According to initial results of a survey, half of 30,100 teenagers, aged between 15 and 19, who took part in a population survey in the province, are already with children.

The results were taken from 40 of 47 Pangasinan towns and cities that were surveyed by the provincial population office (PPO) to draw up a picture of teenage sexuality in the province, said Ellsworth Gonzales, PPO officer in charge.

“We cannot really say yet if the number of teenage pregnancies has been increasing or decreasing,” he said.

The Pangasinan survey results complemented those of the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality (YAFS) study in 2014 that revealed that more youths had engaged in sexual activities, he said.

The YAFS study also documented an overall rise in the youth’s sexual risk behaviors over the last decade, including the low use of contraceptives leading to increased teenage pregnancies as well as the rise in the number of teens infected with sexually-transmitted diseases.

“We thought we should have our own survey in the province, so as to address the issues better,” Gonzales said.

Some of these issues were tackled in the Pangasinan Provincial Population Congress attended by 1,500 population workers from villages who discussed ways to promote basic family values and responsible parenthood programs.

Gonzales said these workers, who are mostly volunteers, implemented the population management and development programs in their communities.

According to Lolito Tacardon, executive director of the Commission on Population (PopCom), Pangasinan has the highest number of population workers in the country. Johanne Margarette Macob, Inquirer Northern Luzon