CBCP thumbs down sex education program for bishops

MANILA, Philippines - The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Wednesday rejected the proposal made by a party-list congressman for the clergy to undergo sex education program. CBCP spokesperson Msgr. Pedro Quitorio said there is no need for the bishops to undergo such an orientation since they are well versed on the matter. “The Church is more knowledgeable about human sexuality as it even has a lot of documents about it more than what our congressmen might actually have,” he said. The proposal was made by Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, one of the principal authors of the controversial reproductive health bill that the Catholic Church is vehemently opposing. Hontiveros made the proposal in view of the CBCP’s recent call for more dialogue with the lawmakers on the said bill currently pending at the House of Representatives. But Quitorio said the Church has long been administering sex education to Catholic schools. “Actually the Church has long been giving sex education to Catholic schools, and these bishops have been presidents or owners of these schools,” Quitorio told reporters in an interview. Unlike the sex education being pushed by the pro-reproductive health bill lawmakers, Quitorio said the sex education being given by the Catholic Church focuses on human sexuality. “Theirs is very limited. It should be the whole human sexuality. That’s where the difference lies,” said Quitorio. In a recent pastoral statement entitled “Standing up for the Gospel of Life,” the CBCP said that the reproductive health bill pending in Congress make a number of good points because it tackles the issues relative to maternal, infant and child health and nutrition, promotion of breastfeeding, adolescent and youth health, elimination of violence against women, among others. "But the bill as it stands now contains fatal flaws which if not corrected will make the bill unacceptable,” the statement said. - GMANews.TV