Amid the debate surrounding Senate Bill 1979 (Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Bill), the Department of Health (DOH) asserted that new legislation isn’t necessary.
The department said the 2012 Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law (RH Law) is sufficient if properly implemented.
DOH Assistant Secretary Dr. Albert Domingo suggested improving health education within the existing MAPEH (Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health) curriculum. He advocated for dedicated, trained health teachers instead of one teacher handling all MAPEH subjects, citing the awkwardness of, for example, a PE teacher also teaching reproductive health. Given the teacher shortage, he also proposed employing nurses in schools.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile, introduced a substitute bill for SB 1979 with amendments addressing concerns about Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE). As chair of the Senate Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality Committee, she expressed optimism that the revised bill would alleviate President Marcos’s previously stated concerns. The DOH has pledged to support Congress in developing more effective CSE programs for schools.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier vowed to veto Senate Bill 1979 or the Comprehensive Sexuality Education Bill if it is passed in its current form, criticizing provisions he described as “woke absurdities” that undermine parental authority and traditional values.
“This is all this woke that they are trying to bring into our system,” he told reporters, expressing shock over sections of the bill he reviewed over the weekend.
“You will teach four-year-olds how to masturbate? That every child has the right to try different sexualities? This is ridiculous, abhorrent, and a travesty of what sex education should be,” he said.
The President also voiced concern about the diminished role of parents under the proposed legislation.
“What about the parents? Do they no longer have the right to decide what and when their child is taught,” he said in Filipino.
As it stands, Mr. Marcos said he supports teaching children about anatomy, reproductive health, the consequences of early pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
“But the ‘woke’ absurdities that they included are abhorrent to me,” he said.
“I guarantee all parents, teachers, and children: if this bill is passed in that form, I will immediately veto it,” the President said.
However, Senator Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the panel on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, refuted claims that the bill includes controversial provisions even as she expressed her openness to refining the measure to ensure its passage.
“Comprehensive Sexuality Education or CSE contains the very same things you support: teaching kids anatomy and the consequences of early pregnancy. That is what we are also advocating for,” she said.
“I am willing to accept amendments to refine the bill so we can steer it to passage,” the senator added.
Hontiveros assured the public that terms like “masturbation” or “try different sexualities” are not found in the bill, noting that CSE focuses on teaching anatomy, reproductive health, and the consequences of early pregnancy. With AFP