A total of 8,085,000 Filipinos used modern birth control methods in 2020, marking a 6% increase from 2019, the Commission on Population and Development (PopCom) said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented event that has put the world to a standstill, yet the Philippines still managed to make progress in FP (family planning),” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

He commended DOH’s service providers and partners in the field for helping making sure that people have access to family planning services are during the pandemic.

PopCom Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III said COVID-19 protection is “as equally important” as family planning, as the latter also has implications on one’s quality of life and the national economy.

PopCom, however, also noted “dropouts” that may have occurred due to limited access to services from prolonged COVID-19 restrictions. Local government units in the Greater Manila Area delivered birth control to families as a strict lockdown was imposed anew once COVID-19 cases surged in March 2021.

A study by meta-search website iPrice.ph showed that Google searches for birth control methods increased during the pandemic.

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But reproductive health in the Philippines is a multidimensional issue, as teenage pregnancy remains rampant, and not all women in the Philippines can make decisions over their own bodies.

The reproductive health law also does not allow minors to access birth control methods or services in government health facilities unless they have permission from their parents.

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Teen pregnancy was also named the “most important problem” that women faced in a November 2020 survey. Advocates on social media, however, pushed for a survivor-centric lens on the issue: Who are getting the young girls pregnant?

The latest National Demographic and Health Survey from 2017 found that around 3.6% of adolescent women, aged 15 to 19, reported experiencing violence during pregnancy.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared teen pregnancy prevention a national priority in June 2021. – Rappler.com