Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 8) — Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the majority of live births by adolescents were fathered by males who were three to five years older than the young mothers.
“These births accounted for more than one-fourth of the total births to adolescent mothers each year,” the PSA said Tuesday. “Furthermore, fathers who are more than 10 years older than the adolescent mothers are responsible for about six to seven percent of births, every year, from 2016 to 2020.”
The PSA noted, however, that close to one in five adolescent births do not include information on the father’s age.
\”In 2020, 23.8 percent of live births to adolescent mothers aged 10 to 19 years old have fathers in the same age group, exhibiting an increasing trend from the registered share of 18.6 percent in 2016,\” said latest data from the PSA.
In an earlier House committee hearing, the Commission on Population and Development (PopCom) said it was concerned about the number of girls aged 10 to 14 who were getting pregnant, even as there has been a decline in recorded teenage pregnancies in the past five years.
The PSA said in 2020, 2,113 births were recorded from the 10- to 14-year-old age group. The Department of Health, meanwhile, said 2,299 girls aged 10 to 14 gave birth in 2021.
PopCom Executive Director Lisa Grace Bersales expressed concern for such births, adding these incidents were \”worrying\” and urged that these be looked into.
At a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, lawmakers met with various agencies and groups to see what actions could be done to address the issue.
