ppgaming DepEd thinks CSE directive is innocent, Romulo says it’s contradicting

Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, chair of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture, presides over a meeting in this file photo taken on Nov. 6, 2023. (Photo from a video posted on the Facebook page of the House of Representatives)

MANILA, Philippines — Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo has called out the Department of Education (DepEd) for insisting that its directive on comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is innocent, when the documents actually include teaching intimacy and reproduction to Kindergarten to Grade 3 students.

At the hearing of the House of Representatives’ committee on basic education and culture on Monday, Romulo claimed that DepEd gives a different definition to their CSE when in front of the media, only to be discovered by lawmakers that Department Order (DO) No. 31 adheres with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) description.

Article continues after this advertisement

DO No. 31 released in 2018 contains the DepEd’s policy guidelines on the implementation of the CSE.

FEATURED STORIES NEWSINFO FDA flags vlogger Rosmar Tan over 'unauthorized' beauty products NEWSINFO Teachers set national rallies to demand VP Duterte’s impeachment NEWSINFO Fire hits a residential area in UP Campus, Quezon City

Romulo, chairperson of the said committee, said that this goes contrary to DepEd’s claims about hinging their CSE on Republic Act No. 10354  or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, more commonly known as the RH (Reproductive Health) law.

READ: DepEd under scrutiny for bringing sex ed to K-12 using RH law as basis 

Article continues after this advertisement

“Based on your own issuances, it seems you are implementing CSE based on Unesco or international agreements.  And let me again make this clear: these came from the website of Unesco.  They have a different definition, they define sexuality as the core dimension of being human which includes the understanding of and relationship to the human body, emotional attachment and love, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, sexual intimacy, pleasure and reproduction,” he said.

Article continues after this advertisement

“That is the problem with what DepEd is doing.  You are telling the media and those whom you want to please that Department Order 31 is so innocent, but you are releasing a different definition.  Like this one. Don’t tell me this is the first time you saw this, this came from your website […] clustering K to Grade 3 core skills.  There is intimacy and reproduction.  I mean, including sexual body.  That’s the problem,” he added.

Article continues after this advertisement

Romulo’s criticism came after Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. showed a document supposedly from DeEd, where it was allegedly stated that body parts can be described using different sense organs.

Education Assistant Secretary for Curriculum and Teaching Janir Datukan however said that he does not remember putting such a definition in the DepEd-issued curriculum.

king slots Article continues after this advertisement

“What are the core messages here?  The human body and development.  In the human body and development, Mr. Chair, it says here, sexual and reproductive parts are vital parts of the body.  That is what is stated in your core message,” Abante said.

“The body parts can be described using the different sense organs.  Different people have different bodies and capacities, including of the sexual body parts. I’d like to find out, Mr. Chair, in what grade are you teaching this?” he asked.

“Mr. Chair, I don’t remember putting that in our curriculum anywhere. We’re not identifying the body parts using the senses.  We don’t have that in the curriculum,” Datukan noted.

Furthermore, Datukan noted that discussions on CSE especially for K to 3 or Kindergarten to Grade 3 pupils are always age-appropriate.

“Foundational, we don’t really talk about sexuality at that point, what we’re doing is we’re making them aware of certain things that they need to know.  For example, in kindergarten, they identify the body parts, which is part of their lessons,” Datukan said.

“For Grade 1, for example, in Makabansa, it is stated here for example, there is a need to teach students about the different kinds of physical traits […] For Grade 2, for example, in GMRC, to exercise patience by using courteous words and proper behavior.  For Grade 3, for example, in science, describe the characteristics of living things, they grow, they respond, and they reproduce.  So those are already existing,” he added.

Discussions on CSE gained traction after several groups raised apprehensions with Senate Bill (SB) No. 1979, or the proposed Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of 2023 — which contains provisions about the teaching of CSE to all grade levels.

According to several groups, the CSE aims to discuss sexual concepts to children who may not yet be able to grasp these issues properly.

Project Dalisay, a pro-children wing of the National Coalition for the Family and the Constitution, has submitted an online petition seeking to junk SB No. 1979, claiming that the legislation poses a significant threat to the country’s societal, moral, and spiritual foundations.

The one-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR), which constitutes the benchmark for the most advantageous rates lenders can offer to businesses and households, was cut from 3.35 percent to 3.1.

The issue raised by these groups appeared to stem from Section 6 of the bill, which makes CSE a “compulsory part of education, integrated at all levels with the end goal of normalizing discussions about adolescent sexuality and reproductive health and to remove stigma at all levels.”

But Senator Risa Hontiveros, principal author of the bill, claimed that criticisms towards the bill are mere fabrications and lies, saying that the proposed measure does not contain any provision seeking to encourage masturbation to children aged 0 to 4 or teach bodily pleasure to children aged six to nine.

READ: Hontiveros refutes critics of prevention of adolescent pregnancy bill 

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. initially supported the bill, saying that Filipinos need to understand how detrimental to health and to society as a whole teenage pregnancies are.  However, the President last Monday said he is shocked and appalled by some of the details of the proposed law.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

SIGN ME UP

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

Hontiveros meanwhile assured Marcos that there are no problematic provisions in the bill.ppgaming

READ NEXT Tulfo wants private motor vehicle inspection suspended Bantag just somewhere in PH, says PNP EDITORS' PICK Pauleen Luna elated over court order to remove ‘Pepsi Paloma’ teaser Shanghai celebrates Lunar New Year with a dogs’ dinner FDA flags vlogger Rosmar Tan over ‘unauthorized’ beauty products Palestinians slam Trump idea to ‘clean out’ Gaza Vic Sotto’s writ of habeas data petition partially granted by Muntinlupa court Fuel price watch: Gasoline, diesel down 80¢/L, 20¢/L starting Jan 28 MOST READ BOC intercepts undeclared foreign currency worth Php 24.20M Senate OKs bill granting PH citizenship to Chinese linked to Pogo Quimbo: Blanks in 2025 budget only for final computation 24 Filipinos in US deported for crimes Follow @FMangosingINQ on Twitter --> View comments