The Commission on Population reported yesterday that from 2002 to 2003 there were 30,481 illegitimate births in Western Visayas out of a total of 279,490 live births, with Aklan registering the highest number among the provinces and Silay City in Negros Occidental among the cities.

The report said that, of the illegitimate births 13.8 percent were in Antique, 13.7 in Aklan, 9.1 in Negros, 8.8 in Iloilo, 5.5 in Capiz and 4.3 in Guimaras.

Among the cities studied, 23.8 percent of the illegitimate children were born in Silay City, 14.5 in Iloilo, 12.7 in Bacolod, 11.5 in Sagay, 9.8 in Passi and Cadiz and 4.9 in Bago.

The report said illegitimate births most often occur among women aged 15-24 years and they make up 64.1 percent. The majority of women in Western Visayas who had illegitimate births were relatively young with the median age at 23 years old, it said.

Women who have had illegitimate births tend to have them in the home, it said.

These would have serious repercussion in relation to birth-related health risks and would render the government's campaign of delivering in a health facility inutile, the report also said. Those who were gainfully employed or were in school were less likely to have illegitimate births, the report added.

Participants who attended the Commission on Population presentation led by its regional director Vicente Molejona at the Governor's Conference Hall asked that the term illegitimate children be changed to children born out of wedlock.

The Commission on Population also presented a report on the Pinoy Youth that said young pregnancies account for 30 percent of all births, 6 percent of spontaneous abortions, 3 out of 4 maternal deaths, and 74 percent of illegitimate births in the country. Majority still prize virginity, although an increasing trend towards more openness to the issue is observed, the report said.

Around 23 percent or two out of 10 Filipino youth had premarital sex in 2002, and 18 percent in 1994, it said.

The report said there is an increasing tolerance for women engaging in premarital sex.*CPG

back to top