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Negative Impacts of Teenage Pregnancy in the Philippines

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Early pregnancy is one of the pressing issues Filipino youths are facing today. The Philippines has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates among the ASEAN member states despite the decrease of total live births of teenage mothers (aged 10-19) in 2016 (203,085) to 183,000 in 2019. According to the Commission on Population and Development (PopCom), the Philippines has recorded a 7% increase in births among girls aged 15 and below in 2019. Filipino minors who gave birth in 2019 increased to 62,510 from 62,341 in 2018. In 2019, 2,411 very young adolescents aged 10 to 14 gave birth, or almost seven every day. One in three births among minors occurred in the three regions of Calabarzon with 8,008, National Capital Region with 7,546, and Central Luzon with 7,523 births. Outside Luzon, the highest number of minors who gave birth were in Northern Mindanao with 4,747 cases, Davao Region with 4,551, and Central Visayas with 4,541. Early childbearing may result in poor health outcomes and may ...

How truly prevalent is drug use in the Philippines?

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INFO Facebook Twitter SHARE ARTICLE 'The estimate that there were 1.8 million Filipino drug addicts is questionable and scientifically unsound'   The prevalence and causes of drug use have been politicized in the Philippines. President Duterte painted a picture of a huge menace created by drug users: that is, drug users are engaged in violent crimes, killing innocent people and raping children; they engage in robbery, theft, and other property crimes to satiate their drug cravings; and that addicts roam the streets like “zombies” creating fear in the hearts of the general public. President Duterte also claimed that drug use has destroyed the fabric of the families and the communities where drug dealing and selling has been rampant.  These dire pictures have been sold and bought by the public. Thus, President Duterte also easily sold the simple yet brutal solution: the strong use of police force to arrest and detain the drug users, and if they “fight back,” for the neutralizati...
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  Pandemic pushed millions more into poverty in the Philippines, government says Reuters Children pray before eating their free meals inside a missionary house during a feeding program funded by a South Korean missionary, at a slum area in Baseco, Tondo city, metro Manila, Philippines January 2, 2018. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco MANILA, Aug 15 (Reuters) - About 2.3 million people in the Philippines were pushed into poverty between 2018 and 2021, largely due to the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, the statistics agency said on Monday. The number of people living in poverty in 2021 rose to a total of almost 20 million or 18.1% of the population from 16.7% in 2018, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said, overshooting the government's target of 15.5%-17.5%. Recently inaugurated President Ferdinand Marcos Jr aims to slash the poverty rate to 9% by the end of his single six-year term in 2028 - a target that remains achievable despite soaring inflation, according to Economic Pla...