Monthly Archive

SSS: Its Gender and Social Context Dimensions

(Summer, Sun & Sand)

I confess, the article’s title has nothing to do with the content. It is written as such if only to conform to the editorial board’s instruction to stick to my topic on gender related legal issues. Begging my editor’s indulgence, (should this see the light of day in print) – this week no hard facts, no hard figures nor legal issues – we are going to my top ten favorite beaches in the Philippines. Hop on!
Camiguin – The island-province of Camiguin is a pear-shaped volcanic island in the northern tip of Mindanao. Camiguin is home to seven volcanoes, including the still-active Mount Hibok-Hibok. Camiguin is one of my favorite islands. Beach wise, the sand bar can only offer so much but with seven volcanoes, hot springs, falls and sunken cementeries – you would not miss the beach at all.

Boracay – Boracay Island, Philippines Known far and wide as an island paradise, Boracay has charmed vacationers with its powder white sand, crystal blue waters and purposely laid-back pace. Party beach and summer is not just complete without Boracay.

Palawan -must have liked the Palawan so much that as a fetus, I decided to pop out two months ahead of schedule in Palawan instead of waiting for scheduled birth date. Why wait and why be born in Manila, we were in paradise so might a well.

Island City Garden of Samal – More popularly known as where Margie Moran’s Pearl Farm is. The island garden city of samal has a lot to offer. There a variety of resorts to choose from and the waters are calm and very kid friendly.

Pagudpud – People tend to describe it as the Boracay of the North, which to us is very misleading. After all, Pagudpud has a lot more to offer besides the beaches. Plus the fact that, by describing itself as such, it makes rooms for comparison vis a vis something that it cannot compete against. Pagudpud can never compare to the powdery white sands of Bora but it has a charm or should a say major attitude all it’s own.

Puerto Galera – It used to be one of the quickest island get a way off Manila (it still is). Puerto memories are filled with friends and island hopping and most of all island hopping.

Malapascua Is. in Cebu – Malapascua Island is a small island in the northern tip of Cebu. It’s especially famous for its white sand beaches and unique dive spots, including the almost certain possibility to see the tresher shark. On this page I’ll try to show Malapascua from the tourist’s point of view and on the second page some other aspect of life on Malapascua which probably resembles with more islands in The Philippines.
Pamilacan Is./Panglao Bohol – Panglao Island is the more popular destination in Bohol. It is just a few minutes off Tagbilaran Airport. My preferred beach town/island however is it the lesser known Pamilacan Island. . Its name is derived from the word pilak, which is a large hooked implement made and used by the islanders to capture manta rays, whale sharks and bryde’s whale.

Apo Island – Some 72 hectares of volcanic rock situated in the Mindanao Sea, Apo Island has a marine sanctuary that was started in 1985 by Siliman University. Experienced dive masters can take you to magical trips in the underwater world of Apo.

Hundred Islands = Did you know that the Hundred Islands National Park is composed of 123 islands and islets? Why is it on my list? With my father’s prodding I just jumped off the rock and trusted the clear waters of Quezon Island – then I became part of the water, gliding, floating – that summer I learned how to fly or swim rather.

In the end, it is not the beach nor the sand that truly matters. You can travel with the whole family or decide to pack your bags, drive alone or simply be. It can be an outing with friends, a walk alone by the beach or perhaps one poignant sun set with the one you love. The options are aplenty, point is summer is here – the heat is on – it face it, love it.

This week, we continue with alarming facts and figures on unintended pregnancies and that which leads to abortion. These figures are cited to validate realities that should start forcing us a society to speak about the unspeakable.

This is not to say that we are therefore advocating legalized abortion. Although we are aware that some reproductive health rights advocate would go as far. Point is, there is an urgent need for actions in many fronts to reduce levels of unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion in the Philippines. Young people as well as adults, need complete and accurate information on reproductive health and contraception, the risks of unsafe abortion, and the health and societal benefits of family planning.

The average Filipino woman wants 2.5 children. In order to achieve that goal, she must spend more than 19 years using effective contraceptive methods.

Some 54% of women who have ended an unintended pregnancy by abortion are not using any family planning method when they conceived. Of those who were practicing contraception, three-fourths were using a traditional method.

The figures in CAR are much lower but it is still the 3^rd highest abortion rate in the Philippines at 34 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 per year.

The Guttmacher survey likewise revealed hat nearly half of all married women of reproductive age have an unmet need for effective contraception – that is, they are sexually active, are able to have children, do not want a child soon or ever, but are not using any form of contraception or are using traditional methods, which have high failure rates.

Fact is, induced abortion is widespread, and its practice takes many forms

An estimated half a million abortions occur annually. One third of women who experience unintended pregnancy end it in abortion.

Women from all segments of society experience abortion. Women who have had an abortion resemble average Filipino women: The majority are married, Catholic and poor. They have some high school education and have already had several children.

When asked why they sought an abortion, 72% of women cite the economic cost of raising a child: 54% say they have enough children; and 57% report that the pregnancy occurred too soon after their last one.

Most women do not make the decision to end a pregnancy alone. Forty – three percent consult their husband or partner, and 25% discuss the matter with a friend or relative.

Only 30% of women who attempt abortion succeed in having one, and many women try again and again to end a pregnancy. With each unsafe attempt at ending her pregnancy – successful or not – a woman increases the risk to her life and health.

          Pregnancy is supposed to be a wanted and happy event for women, their partners and families.   Unfortunately, this is not always so.  I remember losing all the strength when while goofing around my brother’s mobile a shock message from his now ex-girlfriend came in à “delayed mens ko”

       Sadly, more than 1.43 million women each year are not as lucky.  Each year in the
Philippines, about a million and a half women become pregnant without intending to.  Statistics even say that six out of ten Filipino women say the have experienced an unintended pregnancy at some point in their lives.    

          For purposes of humanizing the statistics, these are women of reproductive age (18-44) – she could be your neighbor; the nursing student on duty on her way home; a mother of four who is well aware that they could not afford one more; a naïve then virgin who succumbed to her desires at her boyfriend’s prodding; or a rape victim.  She is nameless even faceless but whom you might have walked past to in Session Road or the public market.   

          Anong nangyari?  What happened? Or one would even say, I don’t even know with why I got pregnant.  Unintended pregnancies are often immediately associated with emotions, disappointment and more shock that ultimately amounts to the economics of raising a baby.   

Unintended pregnancies are influenced by a complex web of factors ranging from sexual behavior and attitudes and societal factors.  It is not a mere case of having one sex too many and as a term that was commonly used a decade or so ago – disgrasya.  And the woman who has gotten pregnant outside marital union (but not necessarily outside consensual union) is labeled as disgrasyada.   

Disgrasyada* is used less and less, but still unintended pregnancies are practically reduced to the issue of sexual behavior until now.  An attitude which only reveals our lack or understanding of the gender and social dimensions of unintended pregnancies as a a social issue.              Unintended pregnancies is a woman’s rights issue.  We start recognizing and translating the validity of these 1.43 million unwanted pregnancies each year as a reproductive health concern and social problem.  Only then can we begin to understand and find solutions to this growing problem.  Indeed, a new life or a baby is always a Blessing, but so is opening our eyes to the problem as a reproductive health concern.  (to be continued)

*NB: more than half of unintended pregnancies annually however is from married women or from consensual unions who have more than 2 or 3 children and who wish not anymore children