Sen. Joel Villanueva yesterday said he will oppose the passage of Senate Bill No. 1979 or the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of 2023 due a provision that the Comprehensive Sexuality Education must be within “international standards” and must be integrated in all levels of the school curriculum.
Villanueva said the title of the bill looks promising since it will prevent early pregnancy by teaching Section 6 of the bill which talks about Age and Development-Appropriate Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) since it states that “it is a compulsory part of education, integrated at all levels with the end goal of normalizing discussions about adolescent sexuality and reproductive health” but reading the entire bill would show otherwise.
He said what struck him most was that part of the bill which states that “It shall be integrated in the school curriculum, guided by the DepEd and international standards.”
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 at four to six years old “are to be taught skills to talk about sexual matters, what feels good.”
He said six to nine year-old children “are to be taught about acceptable sex, ejaculation, enjoyment, and pleasure when touching one’s own body.”
“Six to nine years old. Which parents would not be concerned with this,” Villanueva said at the Kapihan sa Senado media forum.
He said the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) said that those aged 12 to 14 have the right to make their own decisions about sexuality.
“No one, not even teachers and school administrators can have a word on the delivery of the CSE. The bill says that CSE should be integrated in the school curriculum,” he said.
With this, he said that private learning institutions who do not want to integrate CSE into their curriculum might face cancellation of accreditation from the Philippine Accreditation System for Basic Education.
He said the compulsory integration of CSE is against a provision in the 1987 Constitution that parents have the right to watch over or guide their children.
“I just can’t believe this. We have a Constitution and yet we are entertaining this idea? Why should CSE be based on international standards? Why should we follow them? “I will not hide my sentiments on this, and I will continue to say it: I am rejecting this bill,” he added.
Villanueva said he will support the passage of the bill if the CSE will not be based on international standards.
“Of course, and (if) it would be based on our culture and our beliefs,” he added.
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros, in a statement yesterday, said those who are against the passage of the bill should not speculate, saying that all concerns can be clarified in the periods of interpellations and amendments. She said bringing their concerns to social media sites is not the proper venue.
“I am open to hearing all of my colleagues’ opinions and proposed amendments to the bill, in the same way that I have been open to all views on the measure.
“If here are things that need to changed, we will discuss them at the right time and place – at the Senate plenary,” Hontiveros said.
She said the bill does not to intend to completely copy the international standards of WHO and Unesco.
“If there is anything said there that are not in accordance with the context of Philippine culture, we will not include them in the bill. That’s common sense,” she said.
She said DepEd will be in-charge of implementing the CSE in coordination with relevant agencies.
“The highest international standard is the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. “The protection and care of children are the primary objectives,” she added.
Hontiveros earlier criticized the outright lies peddled by various groups, including Project Dalisay, a group advocating for the welfare of children and families, for spreading misinformation about SB No. 1979.
She said that there was nothing in the bill which encourages young children to masturbate or have bodily pleasure, or teach children that they have “sexual rights.”
“Absolutely none of those concepts exist in our bill. Those lines in their supposed rebuttal are complete and total fabrication,” Hontiveros said.
She said the standards of European countries on CSE was not being referenced in the bill, but it is anchored on Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health which has long been a law.
She said there is also nothing in the bill which says that parents will lose their rights to guide their children on sexual matters.
“I have no idea where they got that because there is no law or policy in the country which will prevent parents from guiding their children,” she said.
“In short, I can confidently say: these outrageous claims from Project Dalisay were pulled out of thin air,” she added.
Senate President Francis Escudero said he does not totally support Senate Bill No. 1979 even as he said that he has recommended some amendments to the bill.
“As it was originally reported, no. At least not in its entirety. In fact, I have relayed to the author several proposed amendments to it,” Escudero said in a Viber message to the media, in response to a query if he supports the bill principally authored by Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros.
Escudero said the proposed measure is still undergoing the “rigors of legislation” and is currently in the period of interpellations.
He said he will wait for the final version of the bill which will be voted upon by the senators.
Hontiveros earlier said that 17 senators have already signed the committee report on SB No. 1979.