The Philippine Online Chronicles

For some months now, the proposal by the education and health departments to integrate sex education in the country’s basic education curriculum spurred a national debate that has practically tread on the ‘good vs. evil’, ‘moral vs. immoral’ line of arguments.

Opposition from the Catholic Church and certain sectors on the proposed sex education program is now seen as one of reasons why the Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Health (DOH) decided to ‘hold in abeyance’ the program proposing to teach sex education to elementary and high school students.

“A final decision on the consultation process on the sex education modules has to be made,” says education secretary Esperanza Cabral. But the department’s decision to temporarily defer the program came hours after a group of parents filed a class suit seeking to prevent sex education.

Despite this, DepEd will push through with teaching alternative reproductive health system to students and said they are open to modify the sex education modules if such modules go against Christian values.

For knowledge’s sake

DepEd and DoH said their main objective in advocating sex education was to raise awareness on premarital sex, unsafe sex practices, Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS) and other sexually transmitted diseases.

According to Secretary Cabral, there is a low level of knowledge among Filipino youth on HIV and other sex related issues.

Based on the 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey, 28 percent of those surveyed thought that AIDS is curable while a huge 73 percent thought that they are immune to HIV or only those with multiple sex partners are at risk of infected. The results are comparable to the previous study done in 1994.

The survey also showed that Filipino young adults aged 15 to 27 became more sexually active. From 14% in 1994, 23% of the 20,000 young adults surveyed said they were engaged in different sexual activities.

While majority have heard or known about HIV-AIDS, many still have misconceptions about the disease.

Introduction to sex: in kinder or college?

To address this and the increasing cases of HIV affliction among Filipinos, the DOH made a bold move of attempting to arm students with knowledge on sex values.

DepEd immediately welcomed the proposal. As newly-appointed Education Secretary Mona Valisno said, "Teaching sex education in school is still better than letting students learn the topic from any sources, such as the Internet."

Valisno said the department is planning to integrate sex education into subjects like Science, Values Education and Social Studies.

Aside from DepEd, Cabral said the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority has all agreed to take part in the program.

The sex education program was supposed to start this school year in grades five and six and in high school. DepEd even targeted 29 pilot schools in the National Capital Region, Cebu, Zamboanga, Olongapo, Davao and Masbate to lead the program.

Teachers’ groups such as the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and the Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) expressed full support to DepEd’s proposal.

Cabral, on the other hand, said sex education should start as early as in the kindergarten stage or for school children aged 7 years and below. "Maski kindergarten dapat binibigyan ng konting information tungkol diyan. Hindi yung kapag buntis na, saka pa lang makakaalam kung papaano siya nabuntis. Mula pa sa batang edad, dapat may pagtuturo na appropriate sa kanilang edad.”

According to a report, Cabral said “at the very early age of 3, children should already be exposed to "appropriate" sex education. She explained that sex education for children in kindergarten should not include sexual acts, but should satisfy their curiosity about their bodies.”

Different views of the Church

Bishops from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), though generally opposed to including sex education in the school curriculum, gave different views on the proposal.

In an interview with ABS-CBN’s “Umagang Kay Ganda”, Archbishop Oscar Cruz agreed to Cabral’s proposal to start sex education in kindergarten.

According to the Bishop from Lingayen, “at an early age, children should know about the dignity of their bodies, that nobody should touch it. He further said that teachers must know how to answer questions on sex and gender according to the inquisitive minds of the students."

However, Cruz’s stand regarding the issue is not backed by the entire CBCP. According to CBCP spokesperson Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, the church was appalled by Cabral’s statement on teaching sex education in the kindergarten.

Quitorio added that the plan of DepEd will only undermine the role of parents in raising their children with proper knowledge regarding the issue. “The position of the CBCP even before is that it (sex education) should be left to parents especially if we are talking about children who are underage,” he said.

Another CBCP official, however, said that sex education should start in college. “Parents should teach the proper behavior regarding sex and gender at the children’s early stages. If it is taught in school, it should start in college with the proper maturity and understanding of the matter,” said Fr. Conegundo Garganta.

What parents say

A group of parents linked to the Ang Kapatiran Party and CBCP filed a class suit against the sex education proposal. Main petitioner Atty. Jo Imbong said the sex education proposal "assaults the values and moral sensibilities of the youth."

Online, parents are also giving their take on the issue. Some say sex education should not be left to the parents alone. Toe commented at the Aboutmyrecovery blog, “In the Philippines, most parents are uncomfortable talking about sex with their children. A lot of them don’t know anything about the reproductive system. It should not be removed from the education system. I think it should be boosted to make it include all aspects - scientific, emotional, psychological, etc.”

Ang_mungo, a young father posted in Twitter that “Sex ed needs to be taught in the context of values, of relationships and love. Otherwise, it will just be another biology lesson.

The focus of sex ed must be on responsibility, on consequences, and on the happiness it can bring two people who love each other.

Neva, a mom blogger at mommymanila.com said parents and schools should partner together to equip each other with the right techniques to teach sex ed to kids. ‘I guess it starts with the mutual acceptance that kids are so much more “active” today and are bombarded with all sorts of info that it would be best to hear the truth first hand from those they trust.”

With all the deliberations on the issue, Malacanang told DepEd and the DOH to consult first with the Church before the program takes on full implementation of the sex education program.

Photo from POC files. Some rights reserved.

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