According to a Save the Children’s Global Childhood report in 2019, the Philippines ranks 2nd in Southeast Asia for having the highest rates of teenage pregnancies. In the following year of 2020, the Commission on Population (POPCOM) recorded 56,428 births from adolescent mothers aged 10-17 years old. Additionally, it was found that over 97% of these births were fathered by older men (United Nations Population Fund or UNFPA). Even more recently, POPCOM reported 142,276 adolescent mothers in 2023. Such concerning statistics have been a basis for the implementation of Comprehensive Sexuality Education or CSE.

 

A meta-analysis by Kim in 2023 shows that well-designed CSE curricula that promote safer sexual behavior and reproductive health are effective in reducing risky sexual behavior, improving sexual health outcomes, and enhancing positive attitudes towards gender equality. This petition supports equipping Filipino youth with comprehensive information on various topics regarding sexual health, implemented in the K to 12 Curriculum wherein standards are adapted to a developmentally appropriate grade level age to include competencies that anticipate biopsychosocial milestones of learners.

 

Particularly, sex education and knowledge on the parts and differences between male and female reproductive organs lack in tackling concepts of gender, sexual orientation, and power relations between individuals of differing ages, sexes, and genders—which are 5 times as effective compared to sexuality-based curriculums that did not (Harberland, 2015). Furthermore, it was found that 80% of these curricula showed a positive relationship to the decrease in teenage pregnancies and Sexually Transmitted Infections or STIs. These highlight the need to provide students with a safe and professional environment to explore topics usually considered inappropriate.

 

In support of the implementation of the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of 2022 and promoting a CSE curriculum, this petition is based on the standards set by international groups like the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund or UNICEF and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization or UNESCO but is tailored to fit local contexts to provide services relating to but not strictly limited to

• complete, science-based, and age-appropriate information about the functions and processes of the reproductive system

• personal hygiene, genital care, and prevention against STIs

• attitudes towards sex, sexual identity, gender roles, interpersonal relationships, intimacy, gender and sexual violence, and consent

• critical evaluation of the various contexts surrounding issues like contraception and abortion and prevention of risky sexual behavior

• health facilities and services accessible to all adolescent learners with confidentiality guaranteed and upheld at all times

• CSE for guardians with adolescent children conducted by trained municipal/city social welfare officers as a community-based program to provide counsel and support their concern for their childs' sexual health

• CSE training for teachers, guidance counselors, and school supervisors to properly educate and navigate adolescent learners' sexuality-related concerns

• policies to support teenage parents in pursuing their education, parenthood, family counseling, PhilHealth coverage, maternal health care, and parental leave without discrimination

 

This petition has been long overdue and it is time to make a stand. We encourage you to sign this petition and demand stronger Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Health (DoH) support towards the execution of CSE. Every signature makes a difference.

Educate, Empower—Support Comprehensive Sexuality Education!