PMS Prevalent In NCR,Eastern Visayas-Survey

April 19,2010
PMS Prevalent In NCR, Eastern Visayas-Survey
By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.

Kuting Reef, Macrohon, Southern Leyte-Pre-marital sex (PMS) is prevalent in the National Capital Region and in Eastern Visayas at nearly 4 out of 10 engaging in it, the survey disclosed.
Velma Petalla_Kangleon, Population Commission head told the 35 participants to the Orientation on Reproductive Health coming from the different places in the province that average age of initiation to sex is 17.6 years old. But for Eastern Visayas mostly age at first sex is 17 years old for boys and 18 years old for females.
In 2002 statistics around 23% or 2 out of 10 Filipinos youth had premarital sex.Almost all (94%) who already had sex said they were unwilling and unprepared to become parents.
Quoting a survey Kangleon said that risk-taking behaviors are interlinked with those who smoke, drink and use drugs. They are more likely to have sex.Having sex is mostly has a strong linked to illegal drug use.
She informed that according to another 2006 survey almost half (47%) of young people smoked, 70% drank alcohol. A rising trend of drug use was seen in 11% of boys and girls and it’s rampant in high school and college.
The POPCOM head revealed that when it comes to sex, only very few would like to discuss it with their father or mother or their siblings. In percentage: 15.6% sex was discussed at home while adolescent was growing up; 6.2% discussed with mother; 3.5% discussed with father; 4.6% discussed with sister and 3.5% discussed with brother.
She said that the reason why adolescents engage in risk behavior are the following: 1) Adolescents are now becoming less and less connected with their families and religion; 2) Families are showing less and less helpful to their adolescents; 3) School and homes provide venues for sex encounters; 4) Adolescents show signs of confusion; 5) Doing more experimentation with their peers; 6) Pornographic media are taking a large space in their time and attention.
Citing another 2006 survey results, she divulged that of the estimated 1.7M babies born every year, around 30% come from young women. By age 24, each of our young women already bore one child on average.

Open Forum
During open forum a broadcast journalist intimated that she has no more time for her children because she is busy with her work. When all of the members of the family were already at home, she said, each of them has a different works to do or someone is playing and the other also watching TV programs. On weekends she is also busy with other works in the house including laundering.
A Public Information Officer divulged she has two daughters and giving quality time for them was just set aside as she is busy with the household chores during weekends. The location of her job is also far from their resident. So it’s hard for her to give quality time for her two daughters, she said.
Another participant confided that she has to bare herself when taking a bath inside their bathroom. This, she claimed, is to provide a natural physical view for her son in case he would be peeping on the hole for curiosity. The same also with her husband so that her son can distinguish their physical difference. And in case her son needs some explanation, she said, it is much easier for her to explain than hide themselves under clothes during bathing. And by doing this act, she said, my son may stop peeping on the hole to see what his parents’ private parts appearance would be liked.
However, the broadcast media practitioner strongly urged her married colleagues to “make time” or “find time” for their children since their parental guidance play an important role in their children’s lives.
Writer and columnist Marcelo Magallano Pedalino, one of the staff of Philippines Information Agency (PIA) for his part suggested to the POPCOM head that a new survey be conducted on teenage pregnancy in the entire province of Southern Leyte to get the specific results, than just a generalization of the survey results as part of Eastern Visayas.
Kangleon took his suggestion and implied she shall be contacting the POPCOM team to conduct a survey for the province of Southern Leyte.

Workshop
About 2 hours prior to the closing of the Orientation on Reproductive Health the attendees composed of print and broadcast media and the Public Information Officers from various government agencies were divided into three groups. The print media composed of 5 persons, the broadcast media composed of 3 persons and the rest organized into one group constituted the PIOs.
Each group was instructed by Vicky Pasa Generan, Maternity and Child Health Coordinator, to draw a tree. The roots represent the root causes of teenage pregnancy. While the branches would represent its consequences.
There was brainstorming of ideas among the three groups that were anchored on what they were discussing earlier during the orientation. As. could be observed during each group’s presentation, majoirty of the root

causes of teenage pregnancy and its consequences were almost similar in context. What differentiate them from each other were the ways they have worded. And it can be summarized in single terms.
Root causes of teenage pregnancy:1)poverty leading to lack of education; 2)lack of parental guidance; 3)influence in pornographic media;4) confusion on the true essence of sex; 5)curiosity.
Its consequences: 1) lack of social acceptance or a potential outcast; 2) premature parental responsibilities; 3) employment difficulty; 4) burden to low-income parents.

Advocacy On Teenage Pregnancy
After the presentation and explanation of each root causes and the consequences of teenage pregnancy, each of the three groups was also asked on what they could do to have “advocacy on teenage pregnancy”. Each group has a different ways of providing some measures to reach its objective of materialization into concrete actions of their respective plans.
For the print media the group can conduct information dissemination to teenagers (15 to 19), parents and household helpers/babysitters. Resource persons are from the media, POPCOM, RHU staffs and teachers.
The activities can be done in schools and barangays in coordination with POPCOM, DepEd, PIOs and
RHU.To complete the activities on “advocacy on teenage pregnancy” logistics and livelihood for teenage mothers would likewise be provided so that they can have an income.
The broadcast media have their advocacy using the radio (no TV station yet in Southern Leyte) for immediate wider coverage. While its other planned activities are similar to that of the print media and that of the PIOs’ approaches.
Nevertheless, to break the seriousness of the discussions during the presentations, a colleague in the media came out with a jest in his statement, though quite unacceptable to many, but has the crude truth in it, by saying:
“The very root cause of teenage pregnancy is the illegal use of penises and vaginas” to the laughter of the audience.
Asked by the Maternity and Child Health Coordinator why he considered it as illegal, he pointed out that PMS was done outside the ceremonial bond of matrimony. (Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)