Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez

Calling the measure "very deceptive", Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has urged the House of Representatives to recall its approval of a bill proposing a national policy “in preventing adolescent pregnancies and institutionalizing protection for adolescent parents".

Rodriguez made the call in a resolution, wherein he exposed House Bill (HB) No. 8910 or the proposed Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Act for what he believed it was really about.

Approved by the House on Sept. 5, 2023, HB No.8910 violates several provisions of the Constitution and the Family Code, including a prohibition against a bill having more than one topic, said Rodriguez. 

“Many provisions of the bill aim to institutionalize Comprehensive Adolescent Sexuality Education (CASE), which is a different and separate subject matter from adolescent pregnancy. This is violative of Article IV, Section 26, Paragraph (1) of the Constitution,” explained Rodriguez, a legal luminary in the lower chamber.  

He quoted the section: “Every bill passed by Congress shall embrace only one subject matter which shall be expressed in the title thereof.”

Rodriguez said HB No. 8910 “is very deceptive considering that (while) a reading of the title of the bill will show that it deals with the prevention of adolescent pregnancies and protection of adolescent parents, the bill in fact is mainly on institutionalizing CASE".

He noted the apprehensions and warnings expressed by the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches and Public Policy Review Commission Chairperson former Supreme Court (SC) chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno that CASE, which is being promoted by three United Nations (UN) agencies, “is an international program…that will hyper-sexualize children at a very early age".

“It has been alleged that CASE will result in undermining parental authority, early sexualization, promoting risky behaviors, contradicting constitutional values, failing to establish abstinence, introducing age-inappropriate content, and promotion of homosexuality/bisexuality,” Rodriguez said.

He said the bill violates constitutional provisions (Sec 2 (1), Art XV) on the right of spouses to found a family in accordance with their religious convictions and the demands of responsible parenthood. 

The Mindanaoan noted that the bill had provisions that minors may access reproductive health information and services “without the need of consent from a parent or guardian”. 

Another provision states that if the parents refuse consent, it can be obtained from a duly licensed and trained health service provider. 

“These provisions are clear violations of the Constitution!” Rodriguez stressed. 

The measure likewise violates Art XV, Sec 3 (4) of the Constitution on the right of families or family associations to participate in the planning and implementation of policies and programs that affect them. 

Many family associations were not consulted nor invited to the House committee hearings when HB No.8910 was being deliberated. 

The bill also contravenes Family Code provisions recognizing the “natural right and duty of parents over unemancipated children and their duty to care for and rear them (Art 209); and that parents exercise parental authority over unemancipated children and shall furnish them good and wholesome educational materials and prevent them from acquiring habits detrimental to their health, studies and morals ( Art 220, par 4). 

Rodriguez said the bill has ousted the parents from their natural right and duty to rear their children, to give them parental guidance and to give or withhold parental consent. 

He maintains that in view of these violations, HB No.8910--which has been sent to the Senate, and is similar to Senate Bill (SB) No.1979 under question--should be recalled and recommitted back to the appropriate House committees for further hearings.