Metro Manila, Philippines – The solution to the controversy surrounding the education department’s Comprehensive Sexuality Education program is not just a temporary suspension, but to scrap it altogether, Senator Win Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate basic education committee, said Wednesday, Jan. 29.
The lawmaker called for the repeal of the controversial Department Order No. 31, which provided the implementing guidelines for CSE.
“Dapat alisin na ito at palitan na ng reproductive health education. I-suspend ngayon dahil pinag-aaralan nga nila yung legal at yung moral consequences,” Gatchalian told reporters.
[Translation: It should be removed and replaced with reproductive health education. It should be suspended because they are studying the legal and moral consequences.]
He said he discussed this proposal with Education Secretary Sonny Angara in the presence of Senator Pia Cayetano, the author and sponsor of the RH law.
“Mayroon rin siyang (Angara) mga suggestions how to move forward pero ayoko siya pangunahin dahil nag-evaluate sila para hindi naman siya malagay sa alanganin,” Gatchalian said.
[Translation: He (Angara) also has suggestions on how to move forward, but I don’t want to preempt him because they are still evaluating it to avoid putting him in a difficult position.]
Gatchalian’s proposal involves removing the “very complicated” CSE topics from the basic education curriculum and instead teaching “traditional” sex education as mandated by the Reproductive Health Law.
“In sexuality education kasi very complicated. For example, dun sa DepEd, meron seven modules about sexuality dun. Tapos pinag-uusapan pa gender orientation, gender identity, feelings of sexuality,” Gatchalian said.
[Translation: In sexuality education, it’s very complicated. For example, in DepEd, there are seven modules about sexuality. Then, they also discuss gender orientation, gender identity, and feelings of sexuality.]
Earlier on Tuesday, Gatchalian suggested suspending the implementation of CSE, citing allegedly conflicting policy statements and confusion on the ground.
Angara then said DepEd will study the proposal. He noted that he doesn’t anticipate a major overhaul of the program, but plans to refine the language to address the various concerns.
