Third of a series on ANC's Presidential Youth Forum at De La Salle University, January 29, 2010

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential candidate JC delos Reyes sees no need to support sex education since he believes the youth have "natural" or instinctive knowledge of sex.

"Palagay ko po ang isang kabataan, may sapat na natural na kaalaman kung ano ang mangyayari kung siya ay sumipi. (I think youth have enough natural knowledge of what will happen if they have sex)," he told audiences at the ANC Youth 2010 presidential forum held in De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila on Friday.

He also said he believes distributing condoms to the youth, as part of safe-sex campaigns, "promotes promiscuity and infidelity."

Delos Reyes, Ang Kapatiran Party's standard-bearer, said that he believes sex should not be taught in schools but in the home.

"Ang sinusulong ko po ay tumibay ang mga magulang sa pagturo ng sex education sa kanilang mga anak. (I want to strengthen how parents teach sex education to their children)," he said.

He said he is opposed to the Department of Education's (DepEd) current sex education modules for grade school and high school students because they teach children about the act of sex, condoms and birth control pills.

He said these sex modules should only be limited to the anatomical and physiological study of sex.

"Sa ating educational set-up ngayon, delikado pa na ang mga guro ang magturo, dahil 'yon nga po 'yong modules na sinusulong nila ay hindi indigenous kundi tila yata galing sa mga banyaga," he said

(In our current educational set-up, it's dangerous for teachers to teach because the modules they use put forward, not indigenous, but seemingly foreign teachings.)

Pro-life, anti-divorce

Delos Reyes also toed Church policies on divorce and the Reproductive Health Bill.

He vowed to oppose and veto any laws that would legalize divorce in the Philippines, should he become president.

He said legalizing divorce runs contrary to the 1987 Constitution, the Family Code, and the sanctity of family and marriage.

Asked about his most important move to promote women empowerment and gender equality as Olongapo City councilor, Delos Reyes said he opposed the passage of the Reproductive Health Code that provides an annual budget of P3 million for the procurement of contraceptives, among others.

Delos Reyes said he also disagreed with the Reproductive Health Code's premise that the country is overpopulated.

He said Olongapo and Subic Bay are nearly as large in land mass as Singapore. But while Olongapo has a population of 200,000 people, Singapore already has 7 million residents and its government is still making efforts to increase its population.

"Binabayaran nila ang mag-asawa para magkaanak at 'yong migration policy nila linuwagan nila. (They are paying couples to have children and they loosened their migration policy)," he said.

Olongapo City was the first city to pass the code in 2007. The Philippines is the 12th most populated country in the world, with an estmated 97 million people in 2010.

Radical approach?

Delos Reyes said he opposed the Code's provision of "contraceptive commodities" that he says are dangerous to women.

The World Health Organization, however, deems contraceptives as highly effective and safe.

The councilor added that the next president should focus on promoting respect for women instead of spending on reproductive health measures.

He also said the government should fight graft and corruption so all Filipinos can have "fullness of life."

Despite taking a conservative stance against divorce and reproductive health measures, Delos Reyes said in his final speech at the ANC forum that the only way to change the country is through "a radical approach."

"Jesus was a revolutionary, he was controversial, he was radical, and the only way is a radical approach," he said.

"We need a new start. It's like with a computer, there are so many viruses in the computer of the Philippines. It needs to be reformatted," he said.

Some audiences tuned in to the "Youth 2010: Boto sa Pagababago" forum, however, found Reyes's proposed "radical approach" and his stance on reproductive health inconsistent.

"You are talking radical approach? Eh RH Bill nga lalabanan mo. (But you're fighting the reproductive health bill)," said a user named Vyanini on micro-blogging site Twitter.

'Weak justice system'

Each presidential candidate was also asked about their opinion on whether President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should be held accountable for alleged "sins" during her term.

Arroyo is running this year as representative of Pampanga's 2nd district.

Delos Reyes said Arroyo should be held liable for scandals that broke during her presidential term, including the NBN-ZTE broadband scandal, extra-judicial killings, and the Road Users Tax scam.

He said these issues have not had "closure."

"Under the office of the presidency, the prosecutory service [and the] Department of Justice, I will make sure that the evidence will be collated (against Arroyo), it will be strong. However, we will give her due process. We will not interfere with the courts' adjudication," he said.

He won't stop at Arroyo, too.

Delos Reyes said he wants to re-examine the alleged injustices made under the terms of former presidents Joseph Estrada, Fidel Ramos, Cory Aquino and Ferdinand Marcos.

Aquino and Marcos are both deceased.

"Ang sinasabi ko po na balikan natin ang nakaraan kasi marami pa sa atin hindi pa nabibigyan ng hustisya. Lahat po ng presidente dati, 'yong mga nakinabang," he said.

"Maraming batang nagtataka bakit itong padrino system (being beholden to those who gave you political or financial favors) natin napakatindi. It's because 'yong justice system po natin, palpak," he said.

(We should return to the past because there are many who haven't been given justice. All past presidents, there are those who benefited. Youth wonder why our padrino system is so strong. That's because our justice system has failed.)

"The president's job is to be determined to cull evidence [against] them," he said. Report by Kristine Servando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.