GENERAL SANTOS CITY (12 May 2015) – Sixteen year-old Jamie Marie Cortes learned that unwanted pregnancy will instantly end her dreams.
A resident of Barangay Calumpang, Cortes is among the hundreds of youth in the city that were taught the consequences of teenage pregnancy during the U4U symposium of the City Population Management Office (CPMO) Tuesday, May 12.
“I learned that engaging in sexual activities while you are still young will not do you well. I will not take such things lightly unlike the past,” Cortes said.
The U4U, an activity under the 2nd Gensan Summer Youth Festival, aims to educate the youth regarding issues that concern them and at the same time let them discover their multiple intelligences.
Judith Janiola, CPMO head, explained the teaching method being implemented in the U4U. “We divided the U4U into five segments and called the teen trail. The first trail is all about self-discovery; the second one is youth’s health and nutrition; the third one is youth experiences; the fourth—and the most crucial—is sex education and fertility; and the last trail discusses teenage relationship,” Janiola said.
“Each day, staring May 12 to 15, we will cater 100 youth participants for U4U. This 100 will then be divided into a group of 20 and will be assigned to a respective trail,” she added.
Janiola also revealed that more participants joined, exceeding their expectations.
CPMO’s population officers handled the lectures. All of them received training from offices like Commission on Population, Commission on Health Services, Inc., Department of Health, and United Nations Population Fund.
“I am glad that Mayor Ronnel Rivera has made the 2nd Gensan Summer Youth Festival a venue for us (CPMO) to teach the youth to be aware on issues that involve them, especially sex,” Janiola said.
In its 2013 report, the CPMO declared that there were 3,577 teenage mothers (female aging 10 -20 years old) in the city. Barangay Calumpang topped the list, with a number of 380 (11.95%) of teenage mothers.
Mayor Rivera said that he is hopeful that through the Gensan Summer Youth Festival, the city government will be able to slash down the increasing incidents of teenage pregnancies.
“It is quite alarming that pregnancy among the youth in the city is rising. There is a need for us (local government) to take action on this and the U4U is one of our formulated solutions,” Mayor Rivera stated. (Gensan CPIO/ Ian John Lagare)
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