Fear mongering on sex education hit
AN alliance of child rights organizations on Friday slammed the "fear-mongering" and "fake news" being spread about a bill aimed at addressing teenage pregnancy by teaching about sex in schools. Child Rights Network (CRN) Philippines said the comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) included in Senate Bill 1979 was being misrepresented by a group whose leaders include ousted Supreme Court justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno. The National Coalition for the Family and the Constitution (NCFC), where Sereno serves as a convenor, said CSE could lead to children being "sexualized" and teach children sexual pleasure. "With all due respect to former chief justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and her group knew what it was doing by placing 'childhood masturbation' and other clickbait front and center in their explainers to ignite opposition against comprehensive sexuality education and the bill. They presented these interpretations as if they were truly the content of the bill. These are clear misrepresentations, fake news, and fear-mongering," CRN said in a statement. "The Child Rights Network does not simply support bills without rigorous research and consultations with various stakeholders, including faith-based groups, some of whom are our member organizations. That is why the comprehensive sexuality education component was carefully worded to ensure that it is age- and development-appropriate, medically-accurate, and culturally sensitive," they added. The children's rights group said if the NCFC's Project Dalisay and its convenors wanted to help, they could have at least reached out to them or the sponsors of the bill. "No one was excluded from the legislative process for this bill. If the group behind Project Dalisay truly wanted to help, they would have easily reached out to us or the good sponsor of this bill instead of waging a clear smear campaign against an important and urgent piece of legislation," the group said. They also defended the CSE provision as being "age-appropriate and culturally sensitive." "It involves both parents and educators. It will NOT teach inappropriate lessons to children. Rather, it will PROTECT children from sexual abuse and early pregnancies, which usually starts with teaching young children about good touch, bad touch, and healthy boundaries," CRN's statement read. "Project Dalisay, unfortunately, cherry-picks and misrepresents parts of the bill to ignite populist fears of hypersexualization and infiltration of international entities." "We would also like to remind everyone that we are a party to the [United Nations] Convention on the Rights of the Child. We have an obligation to protect children and ensure their right to correct and accurate information that will help protect them against abuse, exploitation, and early pregnancy," the group said. Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the group said one in 20 Filipino babies are born to teen mothers 15-19 years old, with registered births to very young mothers ages 10-14 on the rise. There were 3,343 children born to children 10-14 years old in 2023. Some of the births were "delivered by teen mothers are fathered by men significantly older than them, highlighting disturbing power imbalances that often lead to abuse." "Teen pregnancy accounts for almost 60 percent of school dropouts among young girls, severely limiting their potential and costing the country billions in lost opportunities," the CRN wrote, citing the PSA. "Let's not wait before it's too late to protect more Filipino children from abuse and early pregnancies," the group said, urging Filipinos to protect more children from abuse. On Friday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. spoke in favor of the bill and sex education in schools, saying it was an important way to address teenage pregnancies. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday voiced his support for sex education in schools, emphasizing its importance in addressing teenage pregnancy. Senate Bill 1979, also known as the "Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act," aims to tackle the alarming rise in teenage pregnancies. However, its contentious provision on CSE has faced strong opposition from some conservative groups. Marcos noted the rising cases of teenage mothers. "If the mother is a teenager, she will not know how to take care of the child. They do not know how to take care of themselves if they are pregnant," he said in Filipino and English. "What to eat, when they give birth, what they will feed the child. These are all of the things that we need to address. And so, the teaching of this in our schools is very, very, very important," he said. Noting the rise in teenage pregnancies, the president said, "Children having children is a very difficult situation, both for the child and the parent."
Tomas Kauer - Moderator 
AN alliance of child rights organizations on Friday slammed the "fear-mongering" and "fake news" being spread about a bill aimed at addressing teenage pregnancy by teaching about sex in schools.
Child Rights Network (CRN) Philippines said the comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) included in Senate Bill 1979 was being misrepresented by a group whose leaders include ousted Supreme Court justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno.
The National Coalition for the Family and the Constitution (NCFC), where Sereno serves as a convenor, said CSE could lead to children being "sexualized" and teach children sexual pleasure.
"With all due respect to former chief justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and her group knew what it was doing by placing 'childhood masturbation' and other clickbait front and center in their explainers to ignite opposition against comprehensive sexuality education and the bill. They presented these interpretations as if they were truly the content of the bill. These are clear misrepresentations, fake news, and fear-mongering," CRN said in a statement.
"The Child Rights Network does not simply support bills without rigorous research and consultations with various stakeholders, including faith-based groups, some of whom are our member organizations. That is why the comprehensive sexuality education component was carefully worded to ensure that it is age- and development-appropriate, medically-accurate, and culturally sensitive," they added.
The children's rights group said if the NCFC's Project Dalisay and its convenors wanted to help, they could have at least reached out to them or the sponsors of the bill.
"No one was excluded from the legislative process for this bill. If the group behind Project Dalisay truly wanted to help, they would have easily reached out to us or the good sponsor of this bill instead of waging a clear smear campaign against an important and urgent piece of legislation," the group said.
They also defended the CSE provision as being "age-appropriate and culturally sensitive."
"It involves both parents and educators. It will NOT teach inappropriate lessons to children. Rather, it will PROTECT children from sexual abuse and early pregnancies, which usually starts with teaching young children about good touch, bad touch, and healthy boundaries," CRN's statement read. "Project Dalisay, unfortunately, cherry-picks and misrepresents parts of the bill to ignite populist fears of hypersexualization and infiltration of international entities."
"We would also like to remind everyone that we are a party to the [United Nations] Convention on the Rights of the Child. We have an obligation to protect children and ensure their right to correct and accurate information that will help protect them against abuse, exploitation, and early pregnancy," the group said.
Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the group said one in 20 Filipino babies are born to teen mothers 15-19 years old, with registered births to very young mothers ages 10-14 on the rise. There were 3,343 children born to children 10-14 years old in 2023. Some of the births were "delivered by teen mothers are fathered by men significantly older than them, highlighting disturbing power imbalances that often lead to abuse."
"Teen pregnancy accounts for almost 60 percent of school dropouts among young girls, severely limiting their potential and costing the country billions in lost opportunities," the CRN wrote, citing the PSA.
"Let's not wait before it's too late to protect more Filipino children from abuse and early pregnancies," the group said, urging Filipinos to protect more children from abuse.
On Friday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. spoke in favor of the bill and sex education in schools, saying it was an important way to address teenage pregnancies.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday voiced his support for sex education in schools, emphasizing its importance in addressing teenage pregnancy.
Senate Bill 1979, also known as the "Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act," aims to tackle the alarming rise in teenage pregnancies. However, its contentious provision on CSE has faced strong opposition from some conservative groups.
Marcos noted the rising cases of teenage mothers.
"If the mother is a teenager, she will not know how to take care of the child. They do not know how to take care of themselves if they are pregnant," he said in Filipino and English. "What to eat, when they give birth, what they will feed the child. These are all of the things that we need to address. And so, the teaching of this in our schools is very, very, very important," he said.
Noting the rise in teenage pregnancies, the president said, "Children having children is a very difficult situation, both for the child and the parent."
