A Catholic priest said that the teenage pregnancy surge only proves what they have been saying all along about the “reproductive health” law: it’s not the solution.
Amidst efforts of the government to minimize unwanted teenage pregnancies, numbers continue to rise for the past years in the country.
Fr. Melvin Castro, spiritual director of Pro-life Philippine, said it only shows that the RH law is not as effective as it was touted.
“One of the key issues presented at the height of the debate (on RH) is that it will precisely avoid teenage pregnancy. The opposite is happening now,” Fr. Castro said.
He stressed that promotion of contraceptive use “did not, do not, and will not bring down instances of the so-called unplanned and unintended pregnancies”.
“Responsible parenthood is about love and sacrifice, which includes self-discipline,” he said.
The priest said that even sexuality education in schools has not been proven as effective in preventing teenage pregnancy.
The Church, according to him, has long been saying that the school is not the proper venue to teach children about sexuality.
“The proper forum for responsible and moral sexual education is the family, not social media nor peer curiosity, not even through modules,” Fr. Castro said.
“We have to educate the parents so they can properly educate their children. It involves personal dialogue with each child. Each child has his/her own individual needs with regard to proper sexual and emotional formation,” he added.
A government organization has earlier raised the alarm that 40 to 50 Filipino children aged 10 to 14 years old are giving birth every week.
The Population Commission admitted concerns that it is happening as the government has been implementing the RH Law, which was enacted in 2012.
