Jennilyn and Patrick, Inah and Vince ... Stay public and stay vertical!

Okay, okay, I cannot help but be updated on showbiz news. I am a news junkie and 6:30 every night, I turn on the TV to watch GMA 7’s 24 Oras, ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol, CNN, and BBC, not necessarily in that order. I must admit that I am partial to GMA 7 simply because I love watching Pia Guanio, the entertainment segment host and the third most beautiful woman in the universe. Anyway, unlike CNN and BBC, Philippine news programs combine hard news with entertainment news (leading to what one person has described as the “tabloidization” of the Filipino people).

Well, tonight, besides learning about a freak storm at the onset of the summer season, Jun Lozada snubbing a DOJ investigation, people lining up again for NFA rice, convicted Magdalo officers asking for presidential pardon, I also learned about the upcoming wedding of Inah, the eldest daughter of Sen. Bong Revilla and Lani Mercado, to childhood sweetheart Vince del Rosario. Inah is 18 while Vince is about the same age. Oh, by the way, Inah is reportedly four months pregnant.

In previous weeks, we have been treated to the real-life soap opera between a pregnant and unwed Jennilyn Mercado and her ex-boyfriend Patrick Garcia. Months ago, there were of course Dennis Trillo, beauty queen Carlene (her surname escapes me right now) and another actress. Now it’s Inah and Vince. In an interview (with either Channel 2 or 7), Sen. Revilla candidly admitted that he and his wife were remiss in their duties as parents.

Teenaged pregnancies are really nothing new. Dr. James Dobson, I think, said that a million teenagers in the US get pregnant every year. In the Philippines, according to the 2003 National Demographic and Health Survey, one out of four women become mothers by age 19 while four out of 10 women in the 20 to 24-year-old bracket have already engaged in sexual activity.

I have previously reviewed Dannah Gresh’s Purefreedom book and website. If you are a parent of a teenaged son or daughter, you might want to re-read that article. Dannah sums up in one striking expression one rule teenagers should know and parents should teach. She advises young people to “Stay vertical and stay public!” Plus, I highly recommend to you two programs for teens, True Love Waits and Silver Ring Thing.