There are Roughly 2,000,000 Orphaned and Abandoned Children in the Philippines – Why? (Part 2)
In our previous post we started a series on why there are so many orphans in the Philippines. Overall, the answer can be summed up in 4 bullet points, the first being natural disasters. The Philippine Islands are located right along the “Ring of Fire” which defaults their islands as perfect targets for mother nature’s fury. It is the one factor no one has any control over. But the factor we look at today is well within our control – teen and pre-teen pregnancy.
Pre-Teen Pregnancy?
Teenage pregnancy affects about 6% of Filipino girls. That sounds like a small number but is the second highest rate in Southeast Asia based on Save the Children’s Global Childhood Report from 2019. An estimated 538 babies are born to Filipino teenage mothers EVERY SINGLE DAY, according to the Philippine Statistical Authority from 2017.
Let’s do the math – 538 x 365 = 196,370 babies born each year to teenage mothers in the Philippines! Nearly 200,000 teenagers get pregnant every year! And to make matters worse, there are roughly 40 births each year by girls who have not yet reached the age of 13. You read that correctly – precious young girls who have not even entered their teens, carrying a baby for nine months in their child-like womb.
These young girls are almost completely unprepared for motherhood and often have no place to turn except to give up the baby they just nurtured for nine months. This is a situation worth crying over. So, what is the solution? Birth control? Abortion? A thousand times ‘NO’ to both of those! The solution lies within our mission, to LOVE and DISCIPLE. The generation growing up right now needs unconditional love from family, but more importantly they need to be introduced to the author of unconditional love, our Lord Jesus Christ. Not the false Christ who allows you to do whatever you want, but the true risen Christ at whose name everyone will someday bow.
We Can Help
Like we’ve said before, as the Philippines searches for answers to this problem (which isn’t going anywhere anytime soon) we will continue to build orphanages and provide our Heavenly Father’s love and nurture to the Philippines most vulnerable population, the abandoned and orphaned children.
