MANILA, Philippines — A religious sect leader and lawmaker is joining calls to reconsider a bill that introduces comprehensive sex education in the Philippines, claiming that the bill “contradicts biblical principles” and “betrays the Constitutional policy” of the secular country.
House Bill 8910, approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives in September 2023, aims to address rising teen pregnancies. Its counterpart, Senate Bill 1979, is pending.
Cibac party-list Rep. Eddie Villanueva, head of Jesus is Lord Church, has joined Rep. Rufus Rodriguez in calling for the withdrawal of HB 8910’s approval.
“The bill contradicts biblical principle and Constitutional mandate of giving parents the natural and primary duty to rear their children,” Villanueva said.
“HB 8910 also betrays the Constitutional policy of the state responsibility to promote and protect the physical, moral and spiritual well-being of the youth,” he said.
Critics have claimed that the bill is patterned after international standards.
The World Health Organization and Unesco have pointed out that comprehensive sexuality education does not teach nor promote masturbation or other sexual practices.
Villanueva noted that the proposed measure allows minors to access reproductive health services without needing parental consent.
Former House deputy speaker and former Manila mayor Lito Atienza also objected to SB 1979, saying that it is not the solution to rising teen pregnancies.
“The rise in teen pregnancies is not due to the lack of knowledge about sexuality, but rather the overexposure and easy access of our children and youth to adult content and materials on the internet and social media,” Atienza argued.
He said the proposed measure would integrate into the curriculum sex education “for children as young as four years old.”
Atienza claimed that comprehensive sex education introduces six-year-old children to the “concept of bodily pleasures through the five senses” and asserts that “children have their own sexual rights” by age nine.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros earlier condemned “falsehoods” about the bill she authored.
“There is no provision that teaches or promotes masturbation among children aged 0 to 4, and ‘bodily pleasure’ and ‘sexual rights’ among those aged 6 to 9. Absolutely none of those concepts exist in our bill,” Hontiveros said on Jan. 15.
Sexuality education is necessary to address the rising cases of teenage pregnancy in the country, President Marcos said recently.
About 3,343 young mothers under the age of 15 were recorded in 2023, up from 3,135 in 2022, 2,320 in 2021, 2,113 in 2020 and 2,411 in 2019, according to the Commission on Population, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.