President Marcos vows to veto ‘woke’ sex education bill

MANILA, Philippines — While maintaining the importance of teaching children about their bodies, President Marcos vowed yesterday to veto a controversial sex education bill that is currently polarizing lawmakers.

Marcos said he was “shocked” and “appalled” after reading the details of Senate Bill 1979 or the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Bill 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. It is abhorrent. It is a travesty of what sexual and sex education should be to the children,” the President said in an interview in Taguig City.

“What about the parents? They no longer have the right to decide what and when to teach their child? I’m a parent and I’m a grandparent. So I feel very strongly about this,” the Chief Executive said.

Marcos said he would reject the bill if it is passed in its current form.

“I’m already guaranteeing, this has yet to be passed, but... if this bill is passed in that form, I guarantee all parents, teachers and children: I will immediately veto it,” he said.

He maintained that he supports the teaching of sex education that focuses on the anatomy of the reproductive systems, the consequences of early pregnancy and the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus, among others.

“When I was talking about sex education, I remembered our sex education when I was in school. We were taught about anatomy… what is the anatomy of male and female reproductive systems,” Marcos said. “We need to teach all of these so the youth will be aware,” he added.

“But the woke absurdities included (in the bill) are abhorrent to me,” the President stressed.

‘Misinterpretation’

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the principal author of SB 1979, clarified that the proposed legislation, which seeks to establish a national policy for preventing adolescent pregnancies and institutionalizing social protection for adolescent parents, does not include the word “masturbation,” contrary to claims made by President Marcos.

“Mr. President, with all due respect, it is clear that the word ‘masturbation’ is not even in the bill. There is also no ‘try different sexualities.’ CSE (comprehensive sexuality education) program contains the very same things you support: teaching kids anatomy and consequences of early pregnancy. That is what we are promoting,” she said.

Hontiveros added that she is “willing to accept amendments to refine the bill so we can steer it to passage.”

‘Rigors of legislation’

Meanwhile, Senate President Francis Escudero stated that he has a lot of proposed amendments to SB 1979, which is still undergoing the “rigors of legislation.”

“(The proposed bill) is currently in the period of interpellation… (we) will await the final version that will be put to a vote where, hopefully, most of my proposed amendments will be carried,” Escudero said.

House Bill 8910, the counterpart bill of SB 1979, was approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives in September 2023.

Escudero said he was not influenced by former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno against SB 1979.

“She (Sereno) just expressed concerns over it. When I spoke to her, she said that their group is against the bill per se,” Escudero added.

‘Exercise caution’

In response to President Marcos’ stance on SB 1979, child rights groups are urging caution, saying that his objections about teaching self-pleasure to students does not exist in the proposal.

“We urge the President to read the bill carefully. The reason why you want to veto the bill does not exist in the text. The bill has undergone consultations with child rights organizations responsible for advocating laws that protect the Filipino children,” Child Rights Network, an alliance of government and non-government organizations pushing for child rights legislation in the Philippines, said in a statement.

“We have heard his position on sex education – that it is hard when a child becomes a parent, and that sex education is important in preventing early pregnancies. This is the same principle behind the reiteration of CSE in the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Bill,” it added.