MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Monday sought to dispel misunderstandings about the proposed Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act, correcting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s assertion that the bill includes provisions on "masturbation."
In a media interview, Marcos softened his initial stance on comprehensive sex education (CSE). While he initially expressed support for sex education, he later said he was shocked after reviewing the bill.
“I was shocked, and I was appalled by some of the—some of the elements of that. Because this is—all this ‘woke’ that they are trying to bring into our system. You will teach four-year-olds how to masturbate. That every child has the right to try different sexualities. This is ridiculous. It is abhorrent,” Marcos said.
The president said he still supports teaching students about human anatomy, the consequences of early pregnancy and the prevalence of HIV, among other topics.
He warned, however, that if the bill were passed with such provisions, he would reject it.
“If this bill is passed in that form, I guarantee all parents, teachers and children: I will immediately veto it,” Marcos said.
Hontiveros, who authored the bill, refuted Marcos' remarks, stating that no portion of the legislation mentions self-pleasure or exploring sexualities.
“Mr. President, with all due respect, maliwanag na wala po sa bill kahit yung salita na ‘masturbation.’ Wala din po yung ‘try different sexualities', (Mr. President, with all due respect, it is clear that no part of the bill has the word ‘masturbation.’ It also does not say ‘try different sexualities),” she said in a statement.
Open to amendments
A review of Senate Bill 1979 confirms Hontiveros’ statement: there are no provisions in the bill mentioning masturbation or experimenting with sexualities.
Hontiveros argued that CSE aligns with many of the president’s stated priorities. “I am willing to accept amendments to refine the bill so we can steer it to passage,” she said.
The Department of Education (DepEd), in a briefer on CSE, meanwhile, said its lesson plans do not include explicit topics such as oral or anal sex or encourage exploration of bodily pleasure in inappropriate ways.
Some groups have opposed the bill, citing concerns that international standards referenced in CSE could include controversial concepts. Hontiveros, however, had explained that the DepEd would oversee the development of CSE content to ensure it remains culturally sensitive and appropriate for Filipino society.
'Not spreading fake news'
Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, a critic of the bill, meanwhile, denied accusations of spreading disinformation about CSE.
Sereno and her group "Project Dalisay" argue that their aim is to protect young people from what they view as harmful concepts in international sexuality education standards.
“This program proposes that children be taught Sexuality Education 'as early and as comprehensively as possible.' This is why we sounded the alarm—because these international standards, which were referenced in both the bill and DepEd Memo 31, are not only ineffective in addressing the problem; they have harmful effects on children,” Sereno said in a statement.
She argued that terms like "international standards" referenced in the bill could introduce controversial ideas from UNESCO and WHO guidelines, including childhood masturbation framed as normal behavior.
“These are 'red flags' that we are duty-bound as Filipino parents to raise,” Sereno added.
"Ibig sabihin, implied sa bill na open ang bansa sa concepts ng CSE, including childhood masturbation (This means that the bill implicitly suggests that the country is open to concepts of CSE, including childhood masturbation)," she said.
Project Dalisay, where Sereno is one of the convenors, first expressed opposition to the CSE program on January 14, arguing that some of the bill's have inappropriate concepts and threaten "moral, societal and spiritual values." — with Ian Laqui