House Committee hears 17 bills on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention
The House Committee on Youth and Sports Development, chaired by Rep. Faustino Michael Carlos Dy III, conducted the first hearing on the seventeen (17) proposed Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention bills on March 17, 2026. Another hearing will be set when Congress resumes in May 2026.
Commission on Population and Development Usec. Lisa Bersales provided a briefing on the recent statistics on adolescent pregnancy in the country. While pregnancy among mothers aged 15-19 have been declining in recent years, births from 10-14 year old mothers have increased from 3,343 in 2023 to 3,612 in 2024. The fathers are often significantly older than the adolescent mothers, possibly indicating cases of abuse and violence.
The occurrence of repeat pregnancies is an equally alarming issue, with young adolescents having not just one but multiple children while they are still minors – the 2024 data recorded three (3) 17-year old girls who already have 5 children.
Principal authors Rep. Sarah Elago, Rep. Perci Cendaña, Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, Rep. Renee Co, Rep. Antonio Tinio, Rep. Charisse Hernandez, Rep. Coco Yap, and Chair Faustino Michael Carlos T. Dy III sponsored the measure and expressed their deep concern regarding adolescent pregnancy as a national emergency.
PLCPD, together with other advocates, strongly calls for the immediate passage of the APP Bill into law to ensure that the youth will be provided with age-appropriate sexuality education, accessible and accurate information and reproductive health services, and social protection for adolescent parents and their children.
PLCPD Executive Director Au Quilala emphasized the need for a comprehensive sexuality education and the importance of teaching everyone about consent. “𝘒𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘨-𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘱𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘢 𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘯. 𝘉𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘰 𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘰: 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘪 𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘣𝘢 𝘯𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘨-𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘺𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘬𝘰𝘭 𝘴𝘢 𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘯. 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘣𝘢 𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘯. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘣𝘢. 𝘔𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘢 𝘱𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘭𝘰 𝘯𝘢 𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘨𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘩𝘢𝘯.”
She also urged the legislators and duty bearers to work together to ensure that adolescent pregnancy does not continue to happen, especially for very young children and adolescents who deserve to be protected and taken care of.