Representatives from various sectors in the community on Thursday issued a common call to strengthen education and advocacy measures for the youth to pump up their knowledge on sexuality concerns, issues and health risks.
The call was sounded off during a forum Thursday spearheaded by the Philippine Information Agency with officials from the Population Commission in Region 7 as guest panelists, in line with the launch of the U4U Teen Trail project in Dumaguete City.
Atty. Bruce Ragas, PopCom 7 regional director, led the team who will be launching the U4U project at the Dumaguete City High School and at Silliman University, among others, as part of their education and information campaign.
During his presentation at the forum, Ragas disclosed that the youth sector is one of the marginalized sectors in society today which is confronted with a host of problems, such as sexuality issues.
Ragas stressed that society must prepare the young adults to be fit and productive in the economy that we are working so hard to improve to offer to them.
He urged the community to put more premium on programs and projects for the young, noting increase in teenage pregnancies and other sexuality concerns in the Central Visayas region.
During presentations by PopCom 7 personnel in the forum, surveys in the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS 4) showed a sharp rise in teenage fertility in the past decade in the region since 2002 to 2013, which they described as alarming.
Statistics show that in 2002, 2.9 percent of females aged 15-19 were mothers, with an increase to 11.2 in 2013, while 5.3 percent of females the same age began childbearing at age 15 to 19, but the number skyrocketed to 13.1 in 2013.
The study showed that most of these risky sexual behaviors of young people in Central Visayas involve unprotected sex, with 5.1 percent of them or 73,000 youths engaged in casual sex.
Withdrawal is the most popular “contraceptive” method of choice by young people engaged in risky sexual activities in Central Visayas, the PopCom 7 officials said.
Further graphs in the study showed that of the estimated 1, 425, 883 youths in Region-7 as of 2013, more than 503,000 of them have engaged in premarital sex with over 353,000 not using any form of protection during their first pre-marital sex.
The YAFS 4 also revealed that 46,000 of the youth in the region have had “sex mates,” 17,000 of them have paid for sex and 24,000 have been paid for sex.
However, the scenario has changed with a number of youths not paying for or being paid for sex.
The PopCom 7 presenters also cited the YAFS 4 study as saying that of the 725, 706 male youths, around 29,000 have MSM (male having sex with male) experience while the latest HIV-AIDS cases in Central Visayas involve youth aged 15 to 24.
Region 7 ranks 3rd in the Philippines with new cases of HIV-AIDS but only 17 in 100 youth in Central Visayas have proper knowledge of the disease, the POPCOM 7 said.
Also, the YAFS 4 showed that Region 7 ranks the 4th highest in terms of premarital exposure with one in three youths in the region having engaged in premarital sex.
Representatives from the academe, the local government sector, and civil society organizations on Thursday agreed that there must be sustainable and tangible intervention measures to address the rising high sexuality behavior of the young in Central Visayas.
They called for collaboration among parents, schools, barangays, and even the church to engage in healthy discussion of topics on sexuality education, particularly with children who seemingly are ashamed to open up about their sexual behaviors.
Atty. Richard Enojo, provincial administrator and representing Gov. Roel Degamo, recommended preventative, remedial and rehabilitative measures as diagnosing the problem would not suffice.
He noted a decline in morality, especially with the youth, due to advancements in technology.
Dave Saceda of the Saceda Youth Lead, meanwhile, expressed concern that with the “irrefutable evidences” PopCom 7 had presented in the forum, “Is it still safe and sound to grow old in the Philippines?”
According to Saceda, the future resource of the country, referring to the youth, is slowly being “taken away from us and we need to come together and protect the young.”
There is a need to educate and empower them to prevent them from exposure to high risk sexual behavior, he added.
For her part, John Lumapay of the Youth Advocates through Theater Arts broke down in tears as she appealed for more interventions for the youth who feel ashamed of opening up about their sexual experiences.
She said many young people are not comfortable to talk about their problems with sexuality, not even at home or with their parents or family or friends.
“We need a safe and secure place with non-judgmental people to talk freely about sex and sexuality”, she added.
The PopCom 7 officials assured that there are many programs and projects in place to address these issues and concerns on teenage sexuality, one of which is the U4U campaign.
The campaign is designed to educate teens aged 10 to 19 to prevent teen pregnancy and reduce prevalence of sexually transmitted infections.
The U4U will be done in partnership with the Gaba-an Youth Lead, SU Student Government, and the Integrated Provincial Health Office. (PNA)
