KIDAPAWAN, North Cotabato, Philippines?Parents who send their children to Catholic schools need not worry about the government?s move to integrate sex education into the elementary school curriculum, according to a Mindanao prelate.

Sex education will never be taught in the Catholic schools of North Cotabato, or other parts of the county for that matter, said Kidapawan Bishop Romulo de la Cruz.

The Catholic Church will never allow sex education in Catholic schools, he said.

?No. We will not allow sex education to be taught to young children in [our] schools,? he said.

He said this was because ?basic sex education could pose a danger to children if it is taught in schools.?

Children may become curious about their sexuality if they learn about it in school, the bishop said.

?No expert teachers?

?It would be like telling them that sex is all right especially if the teacher does not know how to handle the topic well,? he said.

De la Cruz said ?there are no expert teachers tasked to handle the subject matter on sex education.?

The Church stand is that parents, not teachers, should be the ones to teach children about sex education, he said.

?Parents should tell them what the importance of life?s processes are, such as the changes they go through while they are growing up,? he said.

De la Cruz said the Church considers the policy on sex education as part of the ?death? program of the government.

?Death stands for divorce, euthanasia, abortion, termination of life and homosexual marriage,? he said.

Sexuality, not sex ed

In Baguio City, Bishop Carlito Cenzon said schools should be teaching ?sexuality, not just sex education.?

?In teaching sexuality, we can teach respect for the body, that sex is something that should be discovered in marriage, and that this is one of the mysteries of life,? he said.

?We have always been teaching the moral aspect of life, [that] our body is our own,? he said.

He called on apostolate groups, which organize family- and youth-oriented programs, to improve their own values and socialization teachings so they can ?counter? the sexual information that schools will soon be transmitting to grade-school pupils.

He said teaching sex requires counselors and support groups for children to grasp the concept.

Cenzon also instructed priests to write sermons for Sunday Masses that would strengthen family values, in contrast to the government?s sex education program.

?This [program] is massive, sinister and it is evil,? he said.

Eroding family values

Cenzon said the Catholic Bishops? Conference of the Philippines will be reviewing the sex education curriculum when it meets in Tagaytay City on July 10.

He said he has asked local education officials to give him a copy of the sex education module as he said he wanted to make sure local schools would not address the topic of contraceptives.

?The contraceptive culture erodes family values,? he said.

Cenzon said he is also afraid that the schools would end up teaching children the act of sexual intercourse. Williamor A. Magbanua, Inquirer Mindanao, and Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon