TACLOBAN CITY – Plan Phils. supports the Reproductive Health(RH) bill as it will provide the basic needs of every women particularly those who are in the family stage as it will help them learn basic information on how to protect themselves and the child they are conceiving, together with arrays of choices on how to plan the number of children they wanted to have.
Dr. Ester Miranda, health and nutrition consultant of Plan Phils Visayas, said that with the passage of the RH bill, all mothers will have access to information especially teenage girls who get pregnant early.
In the region, teenage pregnancy is prevalent, according to Miranda, and most of these young girls are not aware of the consequences of getting pregnant at an early stage.
She added that teenage pregnancies are not just prevalent in urban areas but mostly in the rural areas they had visited particularly in provinces in the island of Samar where Plan Phils is implementing some projects.
Girls as young as 14 years old to 16 years old, Miranda who appeared at the weekly press conference “Express it at the Park”, said that just like in Daram town, Samar, prevalence of pre-marital sex is high.
“If this bill will be passed, these children will be taught through the incorporation of sex education in their academic subjects of how they can protect themselves, respect and value their bodies in order for them not to engage into such kind of activity,” said Miranda.
“It is wrong to say that they will be taught with different sex position or how to use contraceptives because it is not part of the bill, but rather they are to be taught on the different changes that their body will be experiencing when they reache age of puberty and how they should deal with it,” she added.
“Just like girls who are about to have their menstrual cycle, they need to be taught that they have to protect their bodies and not to engage into activities that will cause them to get pregnant,” she added.
Dr. Miranda added that aside from schools teaching sex education, it is also the obligation of parents to teach their children on different stages that adolescent children are experiencing.
However, due to customs and culture of Filipinos, most parents are not open to discuss issue about sex to their children, which tends their children to get information from other sources like their peers, media (television and movies) and internet, according to Dr. Miranda.
“These sources are dangerous because they opt to get wrong information, unlike if they get it from the right person like the educators and their parents,” she added.
Dr. Miranda also accepts the fact that some teachers are still uncomfortable to discuss sensitive issues like sex with their children.
Miranda expressed her hope that the controversial bill will be passed immediately.
“We know that strong opposition is coming from the Catholic Church, but our leaders much also listen to other sectors of religion and not just to one religion, they must listen to what people are saying and visit the grassroots in order for them to decide appropriately and intelligently on the issue of RH bill, because it is only then that they can have a good decision once they get the sentiment of the people that they are representing,” Miranda stressed.
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