Comprehensive sex education ‘not compatible’ with PH, says Sereno
MANILA, Philippines — Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said comprehensive sex education (CSE) was “not compatible” with the Philippine context, branding the program as “cultural imperialism” pushed by the United Nations (UN).
Sereno was featured in a series of YouTube videos criticizing CSE published on Jan. 10 and 15 by Project Dalisay (Pure), an initiative by the religious group National Coalition for the Family and the Constitution (NCFC).
“Let’s face it: it’s not compatible. Let’s find other better approaches out there. Let’s look for our own identity as a people,” Sereno said in a mix of Filipino and English at a press conference on Tuesday with the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC).
“We shouldn’t have parents and their children fighting. So much is being kept from the parents, even under the bill itself, in the CSE alone… Is that future compatible with us? No,” the former chief justice stressed.
Sereno is a convenor of the NCFC and chair of the PCEC Legal Advisory and Public Policy Review Commission.
Project Dalisay appealed to the Senate and the Department of Education (DepEd) to junk Senate Bill No. 1979 or the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act, which includes provisions to institutionalize CSE.
During the press conference, Sereno maintained that the push for CSE in the Philippines was a move by the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
“We are an independent country. We have our own abilities. We do not need to copy others. It’s really not compatible with Filipinos. This is like a foreign invasion. What the UN is pushing on us is like cultural imperialism,” Sereno argued.
However, Sen. Risa Hontiveros last Wednesday defended SBN 1979, saying the bill does not mandate the Philippines to adhere to the policies of other countries.
READ: Hontiveros refutes critics of prevention of adolescent pregnancy bill
Hontiveros is among the authors of SBN 1979.
A DepEd briefer also last Wednesday said, “The standards set by international groups for implementing CSE are not followed in total by DepEd. There is a localization which takes into account local culture and context.”
Furthermore, Sereno slammed specific subjects in the curriculum, namely Sexual Rights, Rights-Based Approach to Sexuality Education, and Gender Identity.
“Our children are being made into activists for gender ideology at a very young age, and parents don’t even know about it,” the former chief justice argued.
“Is the essence of man his sexuality and its expressions? Aren’t we more than just our bodies? Aren’t we higher beings? It’s a no-brainer. It has to be junked,” she added.
However, Sereno agreed with Section 13 of SBN 1979, which provides social protections for adolescent mothers and/or parents.
She suggested adding the provision as a mandate of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) instead while the matter of CSE was up for debate.
READ: Marcos ‘shocked, appalled’ by anti-adolescent pregnancy bill’s contents
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed to veto SBN 1979, calling some of its provisions “the woke absurdities.”
