MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) is eyeing to make “more modern methods of contraception” available to the public as the government looks to curb unplanned pregnancies in the country.
In a Palace press briefing Tuesday, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa bared that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has directed concerned government agencies to address malnutrition and stunting.

Herbosa said unplanned pregnancies are among the main contributors why some 30 percent of Filipino children are stunted.

“For the childhood pregnancy, my thinking is if I just able to make modern methods of contraception available, I can half that. I can half the mortalities due to childhood pregnancies,” he said.

Herbosa said the DOH needs to make “more modern contraception” —such as implants— more accessible to the public by making it available in clinics.

“Nagkakaroon pa tayo ng problem dito (We are having a problem here) because parang some parents and some sectors want parental consent for minors to get access to this reproductive health products,” the DOH chief said.

“Huwag na tayong maglokohan (Let's not fool ourselves) kasi they have sex anyway, so hindi ko naman sila mahinto (so I can't stop them) to have sex, right? So, probably give them protection for safe sex that will not have unplanned. Let’s go back to nutrition,” he added.