Hontiveros: Marcos remark on vetoing Anti-Adolescent Pregnancy Bill 'premature'

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday said it’s too early for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to say that he will veto the controversial Senate Bill 1979 or the Anti-Adolescent Pregnancy Bill if it would include “absurdities.”

Hontiveros, who is the principal author of the bill, reiterated that SB 1979 does not have any provisions about teaching or encouraging masturbation for children aged zero to four years old, as well as sexual rights and trying different sexualities to young children.

“Eh naku, masyado namang premature ang sinabi ni Presidente na ibe-veto niya. Pero nagtataka rin ako, ano bang version yung binasa nila,” she said in an Unang Balita interview.

(What the President said about vetoing the bill is very premature. I am wondering what version they read.)

To recall, Marcos said he was shocked and appalled by some of the contents of the bill, saying there were “woke” topics under the proposed Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) that are “a travesty of what sexual and sex education should be to the children.”

The President pointed out that as a parent and grandparent, he feels strong about the issue. He guaranteed that if the bill would include these ''absurdities,'' it will not stand a chance and he will immediately veto it.

Hontiveros has repeatedly denied the inclusion of such topics in the bill and encouraged critics to read the entire bill.

To prevent adolescent pregnancy in the country, the bill stated that “age and development-appropriate” CSE shall be standardized and implemented in all public and private basic education institutions.

The CSE shall include topics such as human sexuality, informed consent, effective contraceptive use, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, sexual abuse and exploitation, gender equality and equity, and gender-based violence, among others.

Even as the CSE will be guided by the Department of Education (DepEd) and international standards, Hontiveros clarified that it will only teach lessons that are appropriate for the Philippine setting.

“Kung ano po ‘yun lamang makakatulong na proteksyunan, suportahan, at turuan ng tama ang ating mga bata ayon sa Konstitusyon, ayon sa sa konteksto ng ating bayan, at ayon sa ating mga kultura. So common sense, ‘yun lamang ang ilalagay sa ating batas,” she explained.

(We will only include what can help protect, support, and educate our children based on the Constitution, the context of our country, and our cultures. So it’s common sense, that's the only thing that will be put in our law.)

EXPLAINER: What is Comprehensive Sexuality Education?

— RSJ, GMA Integrated News