Older males in girls’ pregnancies
There is no disputing the fact that in recent years, there has been a rise in girl/teenage pregnancies in the Philippines. Alarum: six out of 10 fathers in these pregnancies are much older than the girl/teen mothers.
Questions: With or without the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of 2023 or the bill on comprehensive sexual education (CSE), will it be against moral standards, curriculum requirements, school policies, church teachings, parental expectations, or whatever it is that rules what young kids are to be taught, if in some schools—a shout-out to progressive schools for girls in particular—they are taught how to protect themselves from males who might take advantage of them? Will it be wrong to make the girls (and boys, too), say, younger than 10, aware of their bodies and how to prevent anyone—male strangers, friends, classmates, relatives, family members, and even self-styled cultists “appointed sons of God”—from making sexually explicit or implicit moves that could lead to sexual molestation or abuse?
Would it be wrong if this is taught in, say, girl scouting, homeroom/GMRC, or health-related classes for the young? Do we need a law to do this?
Is that putting malice where there is none? Is that teaching children and teens to be fearful, suspicious, paranoid, and mistrustful? Or is that teaching them at a young age to be aware, street-smart, and quick thinking? But don’t sensible parents warn their children not to talk to strangers or not to accept anything—food, toys, a free ride—offered by persons they do not know? But what about parents who couldn’t care less or who are themselves abusive? How can truly concerned educators bring light to the darkened corners of children’s lives?
There have been so much noise and many debates on the so-called CSE for students that is being proposed through Senate Bill No. 1979 authored by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality. She, like the proverbial voice in the wilderness, has been bashed and called names by those who are fearful of the bill, even finding a word that is to them offensive but is not even there, neither spelled out correctly nor backward, neither in English nor in Filipino languages. (I know the Cebuano word because the farmer I interviewed during a human rights fact-finding mission recalled how military men tortured him and made him do it. This was during the martial law years under the Marcos dictatorship. Yes, I did write about the tortures.)
The M-word (masturbation) has caused so much consternation that even the President of the Republic fell for the lie and joined the uproar. Some senators who had initially supported the bill have reportedly withdrawn their support as if to acquiesce to the irascible voices from the gallery. All because of M. The better for these legislators to emerge unscathed and with the odor of sanctity, to use a phrase from medieval times.
If it was not all because of M, let us concede that there is no such thing as a perfect bill, a perfect marriage, a perfect family, a perfect church, a perfect world.
In my exasperation, my first reaction in thought was, Hontiveros, consider giving it up and dumping it on those in the way. Let teenage boys and teenage girls beget babies they do not expect and let us see what happens. But that would be throwing the baby along with the bath water. With all equanimity, the good senator is holding on, filing a substitute bill, letting go of the worrisome “international” provisions that could delay its passing or kill it altogether. Consistently supportive militant women’s groups are making their voices heard, so are women in the academe. But let not the bill be so watered down, it would be all a waste of time and saliva.
As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. While the rise in teenage pregnancy in the Philippines cannot be contested as statistics have shown, other findings are just as upsetting because largely unnoticed. Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data show that six out of 10 babies delivered by adolescent mothers from 2016 to 2022 were fathered by adult men aged 20 and over (see “More teen births involve older fathers – PSA,” News 2/8/23). The PSA data showed that 2,299 girls aged 10 to 14 gave birth in 2021, slightly higher than the same age group in 2020. The Inquirer news report cited data showing that from 2016 to 2020, live births from that age group rose by 11 percent.
Sen. Sonny Angara, chair of the Senate youth committee, noted: “Even more concerning was the data on fathers who were more than 10 years older than the teenage mothers, which the PSA pegged at 6 to 7 percent annually from 2026 to 2020.” Were these teen mothers raped, enticed, or simply stupid? What about the older fathers? What about the teen fathers?
Who does not need CSE?
—————-
Send feedback to cerespd@gmail.com
