Bishop wants dialogue with Noynoy on sex ed plan
MANILA, Philippines - A Catholic bishop is seeking a dialogue with President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to protest a plan by the Department of Education to incorporate sex education in the curriculum for elementary school pupils.
Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez joined party-list and child advocacy group Akap-Bata in a protest outside the DepEd office in Pasig City Friday. Iñiguez led the protesters in prayer for education officials to come to their senses and stop the pilot-testing of sex education in 179 schools next week.
The Catholic Church has openly condemned DepEd's plan to include sex education in the curriculum for elementary school pupils, saying that doing so would destroy the values of children.
"Sex is now perceived as pleasure for today's generation," Iñiguez said.
Education Undersecretary Franklin Sunga accommodated the group but assured that the DepEd had already studied how to integrate sex education in subjects like science, social studies and health.
Sunga said modules for elementary students will only include topics on physical changes that occur during adolescence while topics for high school students touch on reproductive health issues like sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV-AIDS and the dangers of early pregnancy and abortion.
The education official said the strong opposition possibly stems from the negative connotation attached to the word "sex" in sex education.
"I will strongly suggest that we change it to sexuality or gender education. Pag narinig kasi nila yung sex akala nila kung ano na. We're not here to titillate the imagination of the students," he said.
Iñiguez, however, said a name change will not solve the issue since the content is the same. Akap-Bata also reiterated the need to address other pressing issues such as the reconstruction of school buildings damaged by tropical storm Ondoy.
The DepEd plans to invite members of the Church and other opposing sectors to the actual teaching of sex education in schools next week so they can have a better idea of how it will be conducted.
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FRAYLE DAMASO and P,Noy
Ang mga prayle nga naman talaga...ayaw magtigil, lahat ng klase ng pakikialam sa gobyerno ay gagawin mapanatili lamang ang kahirapan ng bayan at mamamayan.
Ipakulong na lang nila ang mga kabaro nila na obispo, monsignor at pari na mapapatunayan na gumalaw ng babae o may anak na labas sa sakramento ng kasal ng Katoliko.
"Christianism is not only Catholicism."
I don't know what has gotten
I don't know what has gotten into the minds of DepED officials. Perhaps their own sexual fantasies could not be satisfied by their partners so they are bringing the children into the picture. They claimed that sex education should be taught in kindergarten with children whose age ranges from 3 to 5. Why bring up sex matters to kids at such tender age? These children are supposed to be indulging in playful activities with their peers and not playing with their "thing". They still don't know how the male differs from female and they are not interested to know it. All they want is just play and play. Every child's mind is naturally curious. Sex education will only raise their conciousness about sex and will try to explore and experiment with their peers to satisfy their curiosities. Consequently, you would see children as young as 9 or 10 engaging in sex. Then there you go another problem..teenage pregnancies... So it's a BIG NO for me!
Church and the State
Dialogue? I doubt it. The Church has the habit of dictating the terms. Eto na naman ang mga "fraile", mahilig mag dikta ng kanilang paniniwala sa "governador heneral"
Never Ending
Here we go again with the never ending "SEX EDUCATION"
This has been plague that will no longer be resolved...
I'm sorry but I disagree, morality is no longer the issue here.
I hope Bishop Iniguez is able
I hope Bishop Iniguez is able to remind P.Noy what his mother believe in and that success and prosperity means nothing if morality is sacrificed.
A meeting between...
two ignorant and inexperienced people to talk about sex education? Are you kidding me? Hahaha, parehong ABNoy magdedebate tungkol dito! Get real, stupids.