ARTICLE CRITIQUE

"Philippines counts cost of teenage pregnancies" is a news article published in Business

World in the February 2023 issue. This article was written by a Filipino reporter, Kyle

Aristophere T. Atienza. The author provides an insight into how teenage pregnancy has become

a global problem that has prompted numerous campaigns and public awareness initiatives to

reduce its occurrence. Each year, there are numerous reports of such events generally. The

article shares an overview of teenage pregnancy rates in the Philippines and poses serious

threats to the Philippine economy, especially to its labor force, according to specialists from the

World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN).

The article specifically provides news reports or information to teenagers to make them

aware of teenage pregnancy in the Philippines, since the issue of teenage pregnancy is not only

a health and education problem but also an economic development issue. The author provides

the data information gathered in the previous years, which shows that teenage pregnancies fell

to 5.4% in 2022 from 8.6% in 2017, according to a 2022 survey by the local statistical agency.

Many teenagers below 19 years old have been pregnant as of 2022, and the highest percentage

recorded among those ages was 13.3%. Philippines loses an estimated P33 billion annually as a

result of teenage pregnancies, which the Philippine government views as a national issue, and

by gathering this data, the author of his article then provides strong evidence to target readers.

Also, the author includes quotations from and cites several people, and this includes teenagers

who were pregnant at an early age about their insight and struggles with the challenges of
teenage pregnancies. By this means, the author provides strong supporting details, and it really

adds great credibility to the article as a whole.

However, the conflict of this article doesn’t show the real causes or the roots of teenage

pregnancy; it just includes the effects of an early pregnancy and the solutions to decrease the

rate of pregnancies and births of young children in the target areas, and the government should

enhance the nation's healthcare systems and provide complete sexuality and relationship

education in and outside of the classroom. The author just provides explicit news information

to the public administrator, parents, teachers, and especially teenagers to fulfill his duty as an

author to simply spread awareness of the effects of teenage pregnancy, not just on the

individual but to the society as a whole.

Overall, the beginning of this article is very straightforward, so you can see where it is

going. A concise beginning is required in order to catch readers' interest and encourage them to

read the whole article. The majority of the essay has already been read by the reader by the

time they reach the truly excellent examples of situations that are helpful in everyday life.

Therefore, the author achieved his purpose to inform the readers since it is an excellent, well-

written essay with a vital message for its intended audience, especially teenagers, concerning

the implications of teen pregnancy on not only an individual level but also on the society as a

whole.