Marcos vows veto of Senate’s ‘abhorrent’ teen pregnancy bill

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PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday vowed to veto the proposed Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Act if it is enacted in its current form.

The President described Senate Bill No. 1979 as “abhorrent,” “appalling,” a “travesty,” and “full of “absurdities.”

He said that while he personally he supports sex education and considers it extremely important, he found some “woke” elements that are inappropriate for younger children when he reviewed the proposed bill.

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“Over the weekend, I finally read in detail Senate Bill 1979. I was shocked, and I was appalled by some of its elements. Because this is – all this woke that they are trying to bring into our system. This is ridiculous. It is abhorrent. It is a travesty of what sexuality and sex education should be to the children,” he said.

Marcos said sex education should be about teaching the youth about the anatomy of the reproductive systems, the consequences of early pregnancy, and the prevalence of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), among others.

He said he feels strongly about teaching kids age-appropriate lessons and raised concerns about very young children learning about masturbation and trying different sexualities.

“But those woke that are absurdities are abhorrent to me. And I’m already guaranteeing, if this bill is passed in that form, I guarantee all parents, teachers, and children: I will immediately veto it,” Marcos said.

The President said as a parent and a grandparent, he “feel very strongly” about the issues that he raised.

Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros, principal author of SB 1979 that is due for second reading in the Senate plenary, said: “Mr. President, with all due respect, it is clear that the word ‘masturbation’ or encouraging the youth to ‘try different sexualities’ were not mentioned at all in the proposed measure since the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) teaches the consequences of early pregnancy. The word ‘try different sexualities’ was also not mentioned there as well. CSE contains the very same things you support: teaching kids anatomy, consequences of early pregnancy. Those are what we are pushing for.”

SBN 1979 has been under fire after a number of senators and various stakeholders expressed concern on the provision of the measure that the CSE must be integrated in all levels of the school curriculum and should be within international standards.

Sen. Joel Villanueva said that based on the standards set by the World Health Organization, 0 to 4-year-old children “are to be taught early childhood masturbation,” while four to six-year-old kids “are to be taught skills about sexual matters, what feels good.”

He said that those aged six to nine “are to be taught about acceptable sex, ejaculation, enjoyment, and pleasure when touching one’s own body.”

Villanueva said the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) said that those aged 12 to 14 have the right to make their own decisions about sexuality.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said the bill will encourage children to “experiment”.

He added that Zubiri he opposes the passage of SBN 1979 in its entirety due to a provision on the “introduction of sex education at an early age,” adding that it can promote early pregnancy instead of preventing it.

“We have seen the effects of liberal sex education policies in other countries where children as young as sex years old are being taught how to use contraceptives and engage in sexual activities. We don’t want that to happen in our country),” he said.

Hontiveros said she is open to hearing the concerns of all her colleagues and stakeholders, as she assured that all proposed amendments to the bill will be discussed in the proper forum.

“I am willing to accept amendments to refine the bill so we can steer it to passage,” she said.

Hontiveros earlier said the bill does not intend to completely adopt the standards set by the WHO and Unesco, saying that the protection and care of children are the primary objectives of the measure.

Meanwhile, Villanueva, in a statement released on Monday, thanked the President for supporting his call against the mandatory CSE provision in the proposed bill.

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“While we agree that there is a need to address the rising cases of adolescent pregnancy in the country, it should not be at the expense of our children’s innocence and should not be detrimental to their health, studies, and morals. Let us also be reminded of the importance of families as stated in our Constitution which recognizes the natural and primary right and duty of parents to rear their children,” Villanueva said.

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