Liza Maza
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — Makabayan bloc senatorial guess Liza Maza urged the federal government to extend funds for schooling and well being as a counter-measure to teenage being pregnant, amid the controversy surrounding complete sexual schooling (CSE).
“The federal government ought to put its cash the place its mouth is. Hindi sapat na kunin sa GAD (Gender and Improvement) fund ang pondo para lutasin ang teenage being pregnant (It’s not sufficient to get the price range from the GAD fund to unravel teenage being pregnant),” Maza mentioned in a press release Wednesday.
The senatorial aspirant proposed allocating a price range equal to 6 % of the nation’s gross home product (GDP) for schooling; and 5 % for well being to fulfill worldwide requirements.
The newest knowledge from the World Financial institution reveals that the Philippines had a GDP of US$437.15 billion in 2023. When transformed to the native forex, that is roughly P25.52 trillion.
Six % of this quantity could be P1.531 trillion and 5 % could be P1.276 trillion.
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At the moment, the schooling and well being sectors have P1.055 trillion and P267.8 billion, respectively, within the 2025 nationwide price range, that are each under the price range allocation for schooling and well being, respectively, proposed by Maza, who was previously the nation’s anti-poverty chief.
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“Maglaan ng sapat at makabuluhang price range sa mga pampublikong paaralan at ospital para maging libre para sa mahihirap na kabataan,” Maza confused.
(Allocate an satisfactory and significant price range for public colleges and hospitals in order that they could be free for poorer youth.)
The remark got here amid the controversy surrounding Senate Invoice No. 1979, which proposes instituting CSE in fundamental schooling to curb teenage being pregnant.
READ: Risa Hontiveros strikes to save lots of ‘intercourse ed’ invoice, blames disinformation
Former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, via Venture Dalisay (Pure) and the non secular group Nationwide Coalition for the Household and the Structure (NCFC), criticized CSE, calling it “incompatible” with the Philippine context.
READ: Complete intercourse schooling ‘not appropriate’ with PH, says Sereno
Nevertheless, Maza defended the CSE provision, saying: “Mahalagang sangkap sa paglutas ng teenage being pregnant ang pagpapatupad ng complete intercourse schooling.”
(Implementing complete intercourse schooling is a vital component in fixing the difficulty of teenage being pregnant.)
“Dapat itong maging siyentipiko at could pagsasaalang-alang sa kalagayan ng mga teenager, lalo na sa rural areas kung saan mas malawak ang kahirapan at mas mataas ang bilang ng mga nabubuntis,” the Makabayan senatorial guess added.
(CSE ought to be scientific and thoughtful of the context of youngsters, particularly in rural areas the place poverty is extra widespread and teenage being pregnant is extra prevalent.)
In 2020, the United Nations Inhabitants Fund mentioned the Philippines had one of many highest teenage being pregnant charges in Southeast Asia.
Information from the Philippine Statistics Authority beforehand confirmed that 5.4 % of Filipino ladies aged 15 to 19 skilled being pregnant, with 1.6 % of them at the moment pregnant in 2022.
Additional, the non-profit Save the Youngsters reported a 35-percent enhance in dwell births among the many 15-and-under age group from 2021 to 2022.
“Dapat aralin ang mga salik sa maagang pagbubuntis. Kabilang dito ang pagtuon sa mga kabataan sa kanayunan na nahihirapang makapag-aral dahil sa lumalalang kahirapan at kawalan ng serbisyong panlipunan,” Maza confused.
(Elements behind teenage being pregnant ought to be studied. This consists of responding to the wants of the youth within the countryside, who discover it troublesome to check due to worsening poverty and lack of social companies.)
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“On the core of a progressive CSE program ought to be the fundamental rights and welfare of girls and ladies, particularly these from the marginalized sectors. Susi ang matino, maasahan, at makamamamayan [na] gobyerno para maging matagumpay ito (A smart, dependable and citizen-centered authorities is essential for this to succeed),” she added.
