The lay arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the Council of the Laity of the Philippines (Laiko), has called on the Senate to reject Senate Bill (SB) 1979, or the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Bill.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Jan. 16, Laiko expressed strong opposition to the bill, which it described as “diabolical” due to its provisions that limit parental involvement in the lives of adolescents.
According to the group, the bill seeks to give adolescents, defined as individuals aged 10 to 19, the ability to access sexual health services and information without parental consent.
“Diabolical because the true intentions of the [bill] authors were masked behind such a lofty title,” the statement read.
“The bill provides that ‘health facilities, goods, and services should be known and easily accessible (economically, physically, and socially) to all adolescent…without the need for parental consent. Confidentiality should be guaranteed and maintained at all times,’” it also said.
The group also highlighted the connection between the proposed bill and the ongoing implementation of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in public schools through the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Order No. 31, which was introduced in 2018.
“The bill may be an eye-opener on the State removing the parental rights, but the said teaching is already happening via DepEd Order 31 from 2018 where Comprehensive Sexuality Education started being implemented in all Public Schools,” Laiko said.
It applauded the National Coalition for the Family and the Constitution’s “Project Dalisay” for sounding the alarm over what they called an attack on the Filipino family.
Project Dalisay has launched an online petition urging the government to suspend the implementation of CSE and oppose the provisions of SB 1979.
“We call on the Senate to dump this bill. Many of the authors of the bill are reelectionists, [such as] Senators Imee Marcos, Bong Revilla, [and] Bong Go. We are disappointed, and we expect you to change your stance,” Laiko said.
“And we call on DepEd to suspend the implementation of the CSE. For the Filipino people, and for the family,” it added.