With teenage pregnancy among Ilonggos rising to alarming levels and a main concern of the youth here, the Uswag Ilonggo Regional Party List is looking at initiatives to address the concern.

Gilmarie Joyce Lingga, Barotac Nuevo Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation President, said that teenage pregnancy is one of the root causes of poverty.

“One of the main root causes gid siguro sang poverty is daw nagiging cycle sia ‘bi sang every generation ang teenage pregnancy kay if people or if ang youth indi pa ready to become parents, most likely they are going to raise bala children nga kulang gid sa pagtatap because they, too, indi pa ready to become parents,” Lingga explained.

Lingga is one of the youth leaders present at the November 17, 2021 Virtual Sectoral TownHall Meeting hosted by Uswag Ilonggo Regional Party-List.

At the said said meeting, majority of the region’s youth leaders highlighted teenage pregnancy as one of the root causes of the many problems surrounding education and employment among youth especially during this time of COVID-19 pandemic.

Uswag Ilonggo assured the youth of Western Visayas that the party is determined to preventing teen pregnancy and other related issues in the region.

They are partnering with POPCOM, Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and local government units (LGUs) to further strengthen the campaign against teenage pregnancy by giving of “correct, timely and useful information” to teenagers and continued teaching of Comprehensive Sexuality Education in schools.

Moreover, with education and livelihood as Uswag Ilonggo’s primary thrust, implementing programs is a priority with the goal of improving the social and emotional well-being of the youth in the region.

Uswag Ilonggo is happy to share that it is expanding scholarship programs for the poor but deserving students across the region. These scholarship programs aim to give a light of hope to out-of-school youth and can eventually help in curbing the number of school drop-outs.

“The objective of the townhall meeting is to ensure our partners like you nga ara sa youth sector, maka-contribute man for the development in every part of Region 6,” Uswag Ilonggo Party-list told the youth leaders, adding that through the regional party list, the youth will be prioritized by providing them venues to collaborate on projects and initiatives addressing key issues in the region.

In general, Uswag Ilonggo aims to elevate the lives of Western Visayans through programs that promote change, inclusivity and progress throughout the region.