Press Release March 1, 2021 Teenage moms tend to be abuse victims; Gatchalian bats anew for raising age of sexual consent As cases of teenage pregnancy in the Philippines continued to surge in 2019, the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) pointed out that some teenagers are victims of child abuse or rape. At the kick-off of National Women's Month, Senator Win Gatchalian emphasized that this adds urgency to raising the age of sexual consent in the country. POPCOM Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III said that two out of three of the partners of these adolescents at risk are older by 20 years so there's a degree of power play. The POPCOM chief added that an analysis of the 2019 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) would suggest 10,000 cases of statutory rape.