Anti-pregnancy bill running against the clock
MANILA, Philippines — A bill aimed at addressing the rising cases of teenage pregnancy in the country is pressed for time, with the 19th Congress nearing its end and election season just around the corner.
Senate Bill 1979 or the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act was filed in 2023, but was only hounded by concerns right before it was about to be deliberated in the plenary.
Several conservative groups have questioned provisions of the bill, especially those pertaining to comprehensive sexual education (CSE) being modeled after international standards.
Disinformation has also run rampant about the bill, with some peddling fake news that it includes provisions that could lead to teaching children about masturbation. The term is nowhere present in the bill.
Regardless, a substitute bill has since been filed by Hontiveros to allay these fears. Whether there is enough time for it to go through the legislative process before a new set of lawmakers come in remains uncertain.
For Hontiveros, it is a matter of political will.
“Yung scheduling ay matter, even in that small matter, matter din po ng aming priorities at political will dito sa Senado. Sa Senado, as anywhere else, kung gusto, may paraan. Kung may delay na nangyari, then maaring naging bahagi 'yun ng scheduling at priorities at exercise of political will,” Hontiveros said in a media interview on Thursday, January 23.
(The scheduling is a matter of, even in that small matter, it is a matter of our priorities and political will in the Senate. In the Senate, as anywhere else, if you want it, there is a way. If there is a delay happening, then that could be part of the matter of scheduling, priorities and political will.)
Hontiveros said there were still a few plenary sessions left where the bill could be interpellated.
The substitute bill has already removed several of the items that groups found issue with, including the modeling of CSE after international standards. Concepts such as sexuality, LGBT rights and more were also removed.
The opposition senator maintained that their partner advocates still agreed with the bill despite the changes.
Several senators have also withdrawn their signatures from the bill after the controversies were raised.
Hontiveros said she hoped that they would read the new version of the bill.
Since the bill has already reached the advanced stage of legislation, Hontoveros said she does not expect the bill to revert back to phase one.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has expressed support for teaching sex education, however, objected to provisions of the bill after he claimed to have read it.
"I finally read in detail Senate Bill 1979. And 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. It is a travesty of what sexual and sex education should be to the children," Marcos said in a media interview on January 20 in Taguig City.
The president said that the bill could lead to teaching children about masturbation, despite the term never being mentioned in the measure.
In a message to reporters, the Palace said that Marcos will read the substitute bill. Hontiveros further confirmed that the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office has requested a copy of the new version from the Senate.
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