Joint campaign on adolescent reproductive health to be launched Nov. 27

Several government agencies and foreign organizations will launch on Saturday a campaign seeking to help Filipino adolescents make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

At a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) executive director Juan Antonio Perez III said the I CHOOSE #MalayaAkongMaging campaign will help adolescents make "healthy choices."

“This campaign banks on our belief of young people’s capacities to articulate and independently make smart and healthy choices,” Perez said.

The I CHOOSE #MalayaAkongMaging is a joint campaign of the POPCOM, Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd), National Youth Commission (NYC), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

"As the adolescent health brand and safe platform where adolescents can freely share and bring up conversations about love, relationships, and sexuality without judgment, the I CHOOSE #MalayaAkongMaging aligns with and supports the messaging of the Campaign to End VAW, zeroing in on the Safe Spaces Act (#SanaAllSpacesSafe) advocacy and its objective to encourage everyone to commit to ensuring safe spaces for all in any way possible," the joint press statement said.

DOH director Beverly Ho urged the public to support the youth, saying this is the most important stage in their lives.

“[S]ama sama po natin silang suportahan sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay sa kanila ng wastong impormasyon at plataporma kung saan malaya nila mapaguusapan ang mga paksa tungkol sa sekswalidad, pangangailangan sa kanilang sexual at reproductive health,” she said.

(Let us support them by giving them the appropriate information and a platform where they can talk about their sexuality as well as their sexual and reproductive health needs.)

National Federation of the Supreme Student Government president Bienesto Fidel Junio also expressed support for the campaign.

“I CHOOSE will teach us to make more informed decisions, be responsible, and be willing to seek help from trusted sources so we can learn to navigate through life more effectively and efficiently,” he said. — VBL, GMA News