MANILA (UCAN): A proposed state-backed sex education programme to teach students about sexuality, responsible sexual behaviour, and gender-based violence with the Comprehensive Sexuality Education [CSE] policy, is dividing parents, Church leaders, advocacy groups and state agencies in the Philippines.
Critics argue that sex education should be first discussed at home rather than in schools “due to the sensitivity of the subject.”
Jing Rey Henderson, a mother and an official with Caritas Philippines, said on February 19, “For me, sex education, or any basic education for that matter that talks about gender identity and sex should be handled first by the parents. School teachers should handle these things later.”
Cynthia Agner, 46, a mother of two teenage daughters and a public schoolteacher, said, “I am not in favour that people outside the family should discuss this sensitive issue first. Instead, there should be collaborative efforts between the family, health sector, and the government in introducing this type of discussion.”
Agner added, “Even if we say it is for academic or educational purposes, it is the responsibly of the parents that the children should understand these basic things at home.”
For me, sex education, or any basic education for that matter that talks about gender identity and sex should be handled first by the parents. School teachers should handle these things later
Jing Henderson
Henderson feared that in most cases, teachers would present modules to the children and let them decide on the topics of what virginity is or when it is safe to have sex. “It should not be. You don’t discuss sex in public unless we are adults,” she said.
She remarked that despite the good intentions of the state to ensure the welfare of the children, she “cannot pass this responsibility of educating our children on matters of sexuality to external people” because this is “a sensitive topic.”
The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, which has over 1,525 member schools across the 17 regions in the country, called on the government for an “inclusive” approach to the issue, saying that “one-size-fits-all” curriculum may not be an answer to the diversity of the nation’s schools in terms of its institutional, religious, and cultural contexts.
In a February 12 statement, the association acknowledged the law is intended to prevent teenage pregnancies, but raised “concerns over possible overlaps with existing laws.”
It added, “Any reproductive health education programme should allow flexibility, ensuring that schools can integrate faith-based perspectives while addressing students’ needs.”
Now, sexuality is out in the open… and children do not fully understand the holistic issue of sexuality, that it is not just a physical need but that it has its consequences
Cardinal Tagle
A political debate was triggered after the country’s president, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., opposed Senate Bill 1979 or the Anti-Adolescent Pregnancy Bill proposed in January by Sonny Angara, the secretary for Education.
Marcos Jr. threatened to “veto” the bill, saying it is “full of woke absurdities” that would teach young children how to pleasure themselves.
Angara said in January that the bill aims to tackle various issues including a rise in teenage pregnancies, and expressed willingness to review the programme by collaborating with various stakeholders, including health service providers and community organisations.
From 2021 to 2022, the Philippines has seen a rise of 35.13 per cent in total live births recorded among girls under 15-years-old, according to the Philippines Statistics Authority.
In 2019, Luis Cardinal Tagle, then-archbishop of Manial, now pro-prefect for the Section of First Evangelisation of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, said that in educating children about human sexuality, the adult society especially parents should get in the game, CBCP News reported.
Cardinal Tagle stressed the need for parents to recognise that they are the most significant teachers for their children.
“There is a need to face the truth of our times: the perception on the so called sexuality,” the cardinal said.
He also noted the impact of media on how young people think and how they respond to the sexualities of those around them.
“Now, sexuality is out in the open… and children do not fully understand the holistic issue of sexuality, that it is not just a physical need but that it has its consequences,” Cardinal Tagle said.
“The problem is it is not complemented by education. Children are exposed to these things, and imitate them, but they lack the necessary guidance,” CBCP News reported him as saying.
