Marcos supports sex education in schools

📷hellodoctor.com

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday, January 17, that sex education should be taught in schools to address increasing number of the teenage pregnancy cases in the Philippines.

The Chief Executive made the remarks in a chance interview in Leyte after Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the author of Senate Bill 1979 or the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Bill, and ex-Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno clashed over provisions in the bill.

Its contentious provision on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) allegedly include class discussions on masturbation for children aged 4, anal and oral sex for ages 17-18, and consensual sex.

However, Hontiveros dispelled rumors regarding the said provision and calling them conspiracy theories.

She explained that it was still the Department of Education (DepEd) who would implement the program and ensure that it is tailored to the needs of the country.

In the interview, Marcos said that teenage mothers face challenges such as limited understanding of pregnancy, childcare, and proper nutrition, which stem from inadequate sex education.

“Dumadami ang teenage pregnancy, dumadami ang single mothers, dumadami ang sakit na… Kasama na rin diyan, pagka teenager ‘yung nanay, hindi marunong alagaan ‘yung bata. Hindi nila alam – marunong alagaan ang sarili nila ‘pag buntis sila. Kung anong kakainin; kung nanganak na, kung ano ang ipapakain doon sa bata. And so, the teaching of this in our schools is very, very, very important,” Marcos said.

“To make young people, especially, knowledgeable about what are the options that are truly available to us, and what the consequences are – what the consequences are of having a child too soon, too early. Children having children is a very difficult situation for both the child and the parent,” Marcos added.

Marcos also said that the government has the responsibility in ensuring the right of every Filipino to receive proper education.

“Basta education, I’m in support of it, always, always. Education—okay ulitin ko what I used to say in the campaign—education is the most important service that we provide to our people,” Marcos said. (TCSP)